Solitary Confinement

Depravation is not often a word I have much familiarity with s a young American. It seems that I, along with everyone else that I know, am stockpiled with an arsenal of personal technology from a laptop to a cell phone.

I figured that the easiest day to take on this Media Depravation assignment would be Thanksgiving itself, a day on which I figured could engage my stomach more than my cell phone. I used the assignment to justify letting myself sleep until one in the afternoon. The first thing I did was turn off my cell phone which hit me with unexpected feelings of anxiety. My mind jumped to all tie possible ways I could possibly need my cell phone over the course of the day. Next I got into my car to go to my parents’ house for the Thanksgiving meal. The ride turned out to be silent and contemplative, although my mind kept slipping back to the thought of my cell phone being off and who may be trying to call me(which in all honestly would probably be no one). Stuffing my face conveniently required no technology at all.

Afterwards, I headed back to my dorm room, again in silence. Without TV, music, internet, and cell phone I felt isolated and alone. I could not stop thinking about all the people I had to call and all the assignments I had to do for my classes. The odd thing was that even if the technology was available to me I would have done none of those things, and would not have been anymore productive, but I would have felt better.

Overall, what struck me about this assignment was the amount of anxiety it provoked. It seems that as we continue to acquire this plethora of technology we feel safer and more secure. Humans are social beings. TV, radio, the internet, and cell phones among other things make us feel more connected and in sync with the world around us. Losing these connections is not only uncomfortable, it becomes downright eerie to be so uncharacteristically cut-off from the world.

Postman and Paglia’s debate was a far reaching conversation by two people who embody the concept of a scholar. It veered into territory I had little familiarity with, like their ruminations on the biblical relationship to the history of worshipping idols. Paglia seemed to be the more youthful voice of the two, advocating for the importance of advertisements in the mass media. Postman feels more that advertisements cheapen certain symbols that are utilized to sell things like hotdogs. Growing up, TV commercials familiarize us with certain symbols of cultural significance, like Uncle Sam. We would be much less accustomed to these symbols without the constant exposure that advertisements provide.

Postman argues that jumping from the news of genocide to a Windex commercial renders a lack of sensitivity and emotion to impactful events. However, Paglia argues that life is at once monumental and subtle, varied and unpredictable, and that this representation in the media is only a natural reflection of reality. As Paglia says, “There’s no way we can extend our compassion to 5,000 dead people. By juxtapositioning such jarring images, TV is creating a picture of the world that is simply true to life.”

Perhaps I would perceive their arguments differently if I could hear the inflection in their voices or see the subtleties of their facial expressions. Would I be put off by Paglia’s dominance of the conversation? On paper, I agree more often with Paglia’s points. In any other medium, who knows?

Horse Sense

While watching the film Nosferatu one scene that really stood out to me was the one when Jonathon Harker is spending the night at the inn in Transylvania and he looks out the window to see the horses flee into the hills with the impending threat of nightfall. He turns away and discovers “the Book of the Vampires” and begins to read about the infamous “Nosferatu.” He brushes this information off and proceeds to go to sleep for the night. When he wakes up in the morning he again moves to look out the window and sees the horses return for the safety of the day. He flips “the Book of the Vampires” open to the phrase “Men do not always recognize the dangers that beasts can sense at certain times.” This is largely related to one of the central themes of Nosferatu which is man’s fear of the unknown. Night, which apparently exists as a dangerous and threatening vessel for evil activity represents the unknown with its weapon of darkness and that which cannot be seen. Nosferatu is filled with other examples of this concept. Transylvania, the land from which Jonathon fetches his future tormentor is a foreign and unknown land. Even Nosferatu himself, although he has many physical human characteristics remains largely separated from the viewer. The viewer cannot determine or relate to any of his motivations or feelings and he exists undoubtedly as the monster and blatant antagonist of the film. He is the embodiment of the unknown in all his creepy, despicable glory. Like the land he comes from he is foreign, unknown, and terrifying.

Human history is filled with examples of man’s fear of the unknown. One of the most common childhood phobia’s of the fear of the dark. Some people sleep with a nightlight well into adulthood because they never feel comfortable in an environment where they cannot see, and thus control, the environment around them. Socially, people are intimidated and scared at first by others until they get to know them and they become less of an “other.” So often the first day of school or the first day of work causes immense anxiety only because of the fear of the unknown. Once this hurdle is behind us we settle into our routines and are complaining about the banality of our lives in no time. It is a curse to political conflict, as countries tend to have more animosity towards each other the more foreign and unknown their cultures remain. In World War II the Japanese living in America were torn from their homes and communities because the lack of understanding of their culture and language produced fear and hostility toward them. When people have more knowledge and understanding of a concept or even an individual, that thing becomes less scary and less of a threat in the human mind. Even at the end of Nosferatu the audience learns that Nosferatu actually has a weakness and can indeed be defeated. Whew, well maybe I can sleep with my light off tonight.

Blondes Have More Fun? Maybe. Media Coverage? Definitely Yes.

Natalee Holloway’s eyes shine with youthful eagerness in her senior portrait. One can imagine her living it up in Aruba, lying on the beach, drinking fruity cocktails, and partying late into the night. Appearance-wise she embodies all the ideals of American youth: blonde hair, delicate features, slim build, and has become the obsession of the American news media. The media’s overwhelming coverage of missing persons cases involving rich, white females perpetuates the notion of superiority among the genre of the white elite. Americans are obsessed by those whose lives seem ideal, and even more fascinated by their downfalls. While status makes them worthy, tragic situations put them in the national spotlight. Time and time again America’s News media becomes consumed with the disappearances of the rich, white, and blonde. Natalee Holloway, JonBenet Ramsey, and Elizabeth Smart are only a few examples of cases that have sprung up in recent history. Beautiful and privileged, these girls represent the media’s skewed priorities, which influence the way people develop their own identities and judge others.

In 2005 Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba as she and many of her classmates kicked off their post-high school lives with a trip to the Caribbean. She was last seen with three Aruban teens whose theories about what really happened that night can be described as shaky, at best. Though an extremely extensive investigation took place initially and continues to take place today, Natalee’s body has never been found and no suspect has been formally charged with her murder, although many believe that the three Aruban boys she was last seen with have something to do with it. One other popular theory is that Natalee died of an overdose of alcohol (which she had been drinking excessively the day of her disappearance) or drugs (which she was witnessed to have possession of also on the day she disappeared) and that someone she was with simply disposed of her body in a fit of fear and/or desperation. (Source)

Elizabeth Smart was abducted in the middle of the night from her affluent Salt Lake City neighborhood. Her little sister witnessed the entire thing although she remained paralyzed by fear with the thought that the kidnappers may have abducted her as well if they discovered she was awake. In the following months, police carried out an intensive and thorough investigation with several suspects, including one who died of a brain hemorrhage before he was cleared of any involvement in the case. Miraculously, nine months after being taken from the safety of her parents Elizabeth Smart was found with her two mentally ill abductors in nearby Sandy, Utah. Both were deemed mentally unstable and unfit to stand trial. Several media outlets aggressively pursued the Smart family for accounts of their ordeal and a few high profile interviews took place as well as a made-for-TV movie and book about the experience. (Source)

JonBenet Ramsay was another infamous news story involving a blonde, privileged victim. The day after Christmas 1996 is a day that remains infamous in the history of American crime as the day JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled to death in the extraordinarily upscale home she shared with her family. This case continues to have marked significance and magnetism due to the insinuating details of contradiction and blatant incompetence of the boulder police department. JonBenet’s Father had just received a bonus at work for almost the exact amount that a ransom note in their home asked for. Shortly thereafter JonBenet’s father discovered her in their basement and moved the body, destroying important evidence at the crime scene. Several family and friends were also present in the house that day to aid in the search for Jon Benet, further eroding the clues that could have given insight into the events of her murder. Even though certain clues suggest that an intruder was involved, JonBenet’s parents have always been widely criticized for not only their possible involvement in but also their handling of the investigation into their daughter’s death. JonBenet Ramsey’s murder remains unsolved after more than 10 years and will likely remain unsolved because so little reliable evidence exists. (Source)

Ever since each of these stories began to come out in the media they have recieved an extreme and uncanny amount of attention by news programs, newspaper and magazine articles, and all sorts of internet coverage and disscussion. These three cases are fascinating and captivating in their own right, but have been highlighted in the news media due to the fact that they all involve white, affluent (and blonde) young girls. The volume of coverage that these examples received has established them not as just news stories but as entities that remain ingrained in American culture, carrying huge significance in their implications. Increasingly, the media is receiving criticism about the blatantly inflated coverage that it bestows on cases such as these involving wealthy, white females, and ironically the media now reports on its own unbalanced coverage.

This biased coverage all comes down to the media’s need to create a narrative out of factual information. The disappearances of Natalee Holloway, JonBenet Ramsay, and Elizabeth Smart have been formulated to resonate in the American’s mind in the same way that a blockbuster at the local Cineplex would. They are tragedies in their own right but tragedies whose details are dramatized to the point of giving the impression of superceding other cases. They become dark fairy tales and the American public is driven to want the victims to be found and “saved” much in the way that people want Cinderella to escape the wrath of her evil stepmother and live happily ever after. People want Natalee Holloway to be found and live a beautiful life happily ever after. This innate bias fostered by the media coverage is yet another factor that contributes to the continuation of the superiority of the rich and white in the contemporary mind.

Media Skank?

I have had rocky, tumultuous relationships with various outlets of media filled with cheating, neglect and assorted other types of abuse(usually in the form of dropping my cell phone into various bodies of water).

One of my early beloved forms of communication was in middle school when I fell for the charming, popular internet tool known as AOL instant messenger. I could spend hours on end chatting with various buddies where we would have in-depth, drama filled discussions and debates. (Ex: how r u? good u? good. gtg. ttyl. bye.)

In high school my affection for Instant messenger waned as soon as my Dad introduced me to my shiny, new cell phone. We went everywhere together AND it would even show me who was calling so I could screen out anyone I did not particularly want to talk to!

These days, even though I will always love my cell phone, the initial flame of our relationship has died down. I’m not really tied down to one particular source (I guess you could say I’m more of a media skank these days). Most days I read a couple articles in the Washington Post. I use the internet daily for class but I always seem to get sucked into those celebrity gossip sites like Perezhilton. Television is like the one I blow off most of the time. I like to watch the Office, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien. They make me laugh whenI get home late after work. My one long distance relationship is with Lucky Magazine, through which I stay connected to the fashion world and try to calculate how many paychecks it will take me to buy those Chanel sunglasses.

Melissa's Blog

1st Blog:

Hi everyone, my name is Melissa Gold and I am a sophomore here at UMBC. I am an undecided major and even though I’ve had an entire year to think about what I might want to study I’m still as unsure as ever. I signed up for AMST 222 because this particular area of American Studies seems fascinating to me. I think in this day and age, and especially in American culture the media has such a powerful and far-reaching influence that it would be more than worth while to learn about it. After earning my undergraduate degree(and if I ever decide on a major) I hope to go to law school not only because it seems to be the popular thing to do in my family, but also because I think a law degree gives you a lot of options career-wise.

I grew up in Columbia, Maryland and attended Glenelg Country School. Growing up I was very athletic and spend most of my time swimming or playing soccer. When I was a junior in high school I unexpectedly had to move to Utah for a year. When I came back, to make a long story short, they wouldn’t accept my academic credits so I ended up having to repeat my junior year. Probably the hardest thing I ever had to do was watch my entire class graduate and stay behind an entire year while they escaping to college without me.

These days I spend most of my time working. I’m a waitress at Johnny’s Bistro on Main Street in Ellicott City (FYI-the food is really good!). It’s my first year trying to balance both work and school and I admit it’s harder than I thought. I have a whole newfound respect for anyone who does this without getting fired and/or sleeping through all of their classes.

Hope everyone has a fun semester.