Surgeons Destroying Stereotypes

Recently,  I devoted quite a bit of time to watching the hit t.v. show Grey's Anatomy. It's a show, focused on team of surgeons in one hospital, saving one life at a time. But it isn't what maybe someone would expect in a group of surgeons. It is a very diverse group. They have their fair share of white surgeons, they have their Asian surgeon, and they also have their own couple black surgeons. And these black surgeons are forces. They are the powerhouse of the surgical floor. One is the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Webber, then Dr. Bailey, who becomes Chief Resident, and we also have Dr. Burke, who is the top cardio-thoracic surgeon in the nation. All of these people are high up in their jobs. They demand respect, and respect is what they get. They weren't put in these positions but just sliding by, but they worked as hard, or even everybody else to get where they are.

Dr. Webber is the smartest, most thoughtful man on the floor. He isn't dancing and laughing. He is being himself, and not fulfilling any negative stereotype of a black man. And neither is Dr. Burke. They are their own people. Dr. Bailey may have a mothering sense, but in no mean's is she "mammy". She keeps up with all the men, and she is tough when she needs to be. She wants people to take care of themselves and not rely on others for happiness.

I give this show a lot of respect. In a lot of other shows that I have watched, the experience of an African American is often a large topic in their successes, or failures. But in Grey's Anatomy, it isn't. The only thing holding these surgeons from being the best surgeons out there are themselves, and most times they don't even let that stop them. It isn't about where they grew up, how they dance, or how many children they have. It is about them doing the best in their jobs, and that is what they do.

Living in a Post-Racial Community

(To anyone who might not take it with as many grains of salt as they should, the title of this post is a joke and we don't live in a post-racial society.)

ABC's Community is somewhat of a cult-favorite in the realm of TV and in my personal opinion, is highly overlooked. The show centers around seven main characters who all attend the same community college and have formed a study group. From the very beginning of the show, almost all of the main characters seems to play a stereotype in their own regard. There is the type-A, lawyer, sarcastic Jeff', an environmentally-concerned, vegan, socially-progressive woman named Britta, and the studious goody-two-shoes, Annie; just to name a few. There are two black characters in this group as well and the strange thing about Community is the dichotomy of black characters that these two actors represent.

The first to be noticed through a racial lens would be character Shirley Bennet, played by Yvette Nicole Brown. In many ways she is a very modern representation of the black "mammy" stereotype. She relatively large compared to the other two women in the group, Britta and Annie, she is highly religious, the only one out of the group who has kids, and is definitely a figure of power in this group dynamic. The more and more I think about the character of Shirley the harder and harder it becomes to find an aspect of her that is not congruent with the mammy stereotype, While she is one of the most well-spoken members of the group, which is a point against the stereotype, she is also the only character who has children. The mammy was often a character who would take care of the slave owner's children instead of the mistress on the plantation, and by making Shirley the only character with children it is hard to not see this as a parallel to the stereotype she already embodies.

On the opposite end of the stereotype spectrum is Troy, a character played by Donald Glover. I have always strongly connected with Donald Glover, both as a person and while playing the character of Troy because they are both very different from the stereotypical perception of what a black male is like. Troy's best friend is a strange and seemingly-neurotic Indian with whom he enjoys comics, plays pretend, and indulges in pop culture. In Troy's past he was a star football player and secretly a ballet dancer, which serves to even further counter any black stereotype that Troy may have fallen into. It is rare that such a person is represented on a major network show, and I believe that before Troy, many people did not even know that such a black person existed due to the system of racism that we live in. That means there were a number of people who did not know that I, and people like me, even existed and I appreciate this.

Yet I can't help but wonder if by distancing Troy so far from the stereotypes of black males and black males on television, Dan Harmon (the show's creator) has also distanced the character from his actual blackness. In no way is this to say that to be black is to fit the stereotypical definition of what a black person is because that is completely, utterly, and undeniably false. The fact of the matter is that media has such an effect on our perceptions of other people, that it has without a doubt shaped many people's idea of what the black male is. Troy is very few, if not none of these things. I worry that by making Troy so different, viewers may forget that Troy is incontestably a black male; and if this is forgotten, then any progress he may have made in destroying the stereotype is nullified.

You can't sit with Us

The popular Netflix series, Orange is the New Black has received positive responses. One of the slightly bothering parts of the show was when Piper Kerman, the main character, was first introduced to the women's prison cafeteria. There was a classic scan of all the tables; this scene showed all of the prisoners only sitting with their specific race. All three of the groups (White, African American, and Latinas) are tense and tend not to integrate with each other.

The show displays all three groups of women having conflicts with each other. When the Latina bathroom was flooding, they started using the "Ghetto" or Black bathroom. This caused tensions between the two groups but the leaders of each group Vee and Mendoza finally agree to a fair deal that allowed the Latinas to use their bathroom. 

It appears that each racial group is almost like a gang, or an incredibly close family. All of the women stick together and look to their designated leaders for protection and guidance. For example, when there was a storm and all of the inmates were forced to sleep in the cafeteria, Red (motherly figure for the white women) and her gang was concerned about being attacked by the other women. It's funny how even adult women are still somewhat immature about racial interatctions. Why can't we sit together? 

Laughing at "Fool's Gold"

The movie Fool's Gold revolves around finding a lost treasure which is sought after by many individual search teams. Kevin Hart portrays Bigg Bunny D, a controlling power figure of the island, he is constantly threatening and executing violent actions. His greed to take the entirety of the treasure drives him to many attempts of killing those closest on his trail even though they have promised him a large amount of it in return for sparing their lives. This demonstrates the brute stereotype quite dramatically. The exaggerated violence often reaches a more comical level than the seriousness of the actions should be. He has no qualms with distributing violent threats and punishment through his minions but when he must fight on his own his courage fades although his anger grows.

Throughout the film you are driven to question Bigg Bunny's true authority and sanity. In his paranoia, he doubts the people who are loyal to him and hires new people to keep the others in line. Although his minions have been obedient and not protested even when they probable should have, Bigg Bunny is too greedy to see the connection and has someone murder them to demonstrate his seriousness. This is an extreme violent action which he takes lightly and continues on without an issue. His primitive greed for the money and to protect it despite the consequences is truly animalistic, a quality of the brute.

Race vs. Work

In the TV show Grey’s Anatomy, there’s a specific episode which addresses racial issues and the idea of white supremacy, and discourages these racist ideas and common ideologies. In the episode, there was an accident in which a paramedic was severely injured. He was a young, white man and at first refused the help of Dr. Bailey, a black woman surgeon. He then refused help from any doctor that tried to help him because they weren’t white. So Dr. Bailey went and got Dr. Yang who is Asian-American to examine him. The man was still not thrilled at this, responding by, “Oh c’mon! Seriously?” but he stubbornly accepted. Yang found a tattoo of a swastika on his stomach, and was disgusted.

The man had severe internal bleeding and had to undergo surgery, but he didn’t want Dr. Bailey or the the Chief to do it because he didn’t trust them and thought they weren’t skilled enough to save his life, just because they were black. He made another doctor, white of course, to accompany them into surgery and “make sure they didn’t kill him”. Although Bailey didn’t necessarily want to save the life of a white supremacist and it was very challenging, it was the right thing to do and in the end he ended up living, miraculously, because of the extreme extent of his injuries. Dr. Bailey also re-stitched his body so that the tattoo was unrecognizable on purpose.

This episode not only breaks the racial stereotypes that black people are never surgeons, but encourages the idea that how well you do your job is not related to race at all. Dr. O’Malley, the white doctor that the injured man demanded be in the OR during his surgery, admitted that he would’ve probably killed the man, that he’s not as skilled as Dr. Bailey and the Chief, and the white supremacist man was very surprised. By portraying this man as the villain, and a man with no morals or ethics, the audience is convinced that racism and the idea of white supremacy is frowned upon and not at all true. Also, this episode convinces the audience that minorities commonly have agency in the workplace, because Dr. Bailey is a very respected woman who is high up on the “food chain” at the hospital and is very skilled and passionate with her work. The Chief is also obviously important and respected because he’s the boss of all the surgeons in the hospital.

Race Analysis - Washington Redskins

America has seen a tremendous decrease of the amount of racism in recent years. With so many groups pushing for equal rights, public opinion now wages a war on anyone famous who does anything that has even a hint of racist undertone. Why then is the mascot for the Washington DC football team a Native American? For that matter, why are they called the Redskins? This team is not only blatantly offensive to Native Americans, but also drags the rest of America back to a time of prejudice and discrimination.

The Washington Redskins mascot (and whole team identity) reinforces the image of Native Americans as dark skinned, somber, chieftains who are almost less advanced due to their spiritual traditions. While this image may have been true a couple hundred years ago, it holds very little relevance to modern Native Americans. Now Native Americans aren't longer excluded as an outside presence, but integrated into American. The classic Indian Chieftain representation gives Native Americans little agency and the Washington Redskins also do so by using an offensive term. I don't believe that the Washington Redskins should be forced to change their image, but I do believe they should do so out of courtesy as well as in order to better their image.


                 

The Spicy Latina and Exoticism of Women of Color

“Modern Family” is a popular show and as it includes a gay couple, the show appears to be progressive. The family is almost all white except for the family patriarch’s much younger wife, Gloria. Gloria is played by Sofia Vergara, 42 year old Colombian model and actress. Although Gloria seems to be a harmless, and entertaining character, she perpetuates a major racist stereotype in American culture.

Gloria represents the exoticism of colored women, and specifically the bold, spicy, latina stereotype. Gloria is hypersexualized as she wears tight, revealing clothing which extentuates her large breasts and comments are often made about her physical attractiveness. Gloria has an artificially obvious accent, and struggles with english and her intelligence in general. This enforces the idea that women of color are exotic and their bodies should be craved for their exotic, foreign, “otherness.” This stereotype is not surprising since women of color have always been sexualized but never really valued. As Gloria is the wife of a much older man, once again it is shown that “exotic” women should be conquered and appreciated solely for their physical appearances.

The sexualization and exoticism of women of color has a long history. Latinas have been stereotyped as sexual and exotic since the Brazilian, Carmen Miranda portrayed the image of the “spicy latina”. Her vibrant colors and dances created an exotic sex appeal. Actresses like Sofia Vergara and Naya Rivera, who played Santana and “Glee”, continue to land the role of the spicy, exotic latina women. This stereotype has been existent for all women of color. Since the days of slavery in America and the sexual exploitation of black women, white women have been seen as virginal and pure, while black bodies have been hypersexualized by American culture and media. Even if they are born in America, women of color have been objectified and sexualized due to the hypersexualization of their “exoticness”. Women of color should no longer be disembodied and dehumanized by images and representations, but rather they should be valued and accurately portrayed by American culture.

Larry David and "The Blacks"

In Larry David's sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm, his grumpy and pessimistic character deals with the nuances of modern social interactions. In one story line of the television show, a family who lost their home to hurricane Katrina comes to live with Larry in his California mansion. This charitable situation leads to many conversations about race and culture in the David home. Larry David wittingly constructs race as an indicator of certain innocuous traits, but unconsciously associates the black characters on his show with several prevalent stereotypes.

Larry David construes race as a generally superficial element of modern social interactions. When Larry comes home and notices the thermostat's reading is above eighty degrees, for example, the black man living with him remarks, "Us black people like it hot!" This assertion, although innocuous, generalizes people based solely on the color of their skin. In another comedic instance involving race, Larry marries the young African American woman who had been living with him. Besides the obvious stereotypes associated with rich white men taking advantage of young women, the marriage leads to many remarks about Larry's integration into the African American community. This concept of distinct communities based on skin color perpetuates the social construct of race.

In less innocuous ways, Curb Your Enthusiasm associates several black characters with harmful stereotypes. The young black man who comes to live with Larry, for example, embodies many of the characteristics of the "Jim Crow" stereotype. Happy and carefree, the young man fails to get a job and seems to be content with living in a state of childlike dependence on Larry David. The older woman who comes to live with Larry also seems to embody the "Mammy" stereotype. Beyond her physical resemblance to the stereotypical depiction of "Mammy," the character is seen as a happy and grateful dependent. She cares for the younger children while expressing no independent ambitions or personality.

Despite these dangerous stereotypical associations, one might conclude that Larry David ultimately does more to undo the social construct of race than to reinforce it. His portrayal of racial stereotypes is exaggerated and conscious, and there exists no underlying sentiment of racial inferiority. In fact, like in much of the show, the supporting roles of the African American characters prove far more virtuous than Larry David himself. Perhaps most important of all, however, is Larry David's consistency in social ineptitude. His character does not change in interacting with people of color and his actions towards them reflect his general lack of compassion and sympathy. Larry David's apathy is colorblind, and he thereby shows that in his eyes we are all the same.

Serial: The Race Behind The So Called Killer

Serial is a podcast that became very popular throughout the world. The podcast followed the same case week by week and really dived in to it. This case was of 1999 Murder of Have Min Lee, a 18-year-old student. Lee's ex-boyfriend, Adnan Masud Syed, was arrested on and charged with first-degree murder. Through out the podcast there are many different reasons brought to the table for why Hae Min Lee was killed, as well as why Adnan was convicted, race was factor. Serial displays the built in racism Americans have toward other Americans with different cultures and beliefs. Through out this podcast, the question: Does your culture define you? is brought forth. Serial shows that with your culture stereotypes become attached to you, no matter whether they are true or not.

Through out Adnans trial race is often brought up. The Prosecution tries to make Adnan seem like a terrifying terrorist muslim, most likely the most common stereotype against Muslims. They say that he shouldn't get bail because he could flee to Pakistan. They also say that because the Muslim community supports him he is therefore, more of a treat. Other statements like this are made in the trail even though they do not pertain to the case. The Prosecution actually had to release a apology letter for many of these statements.Yet, The Prosecutions claims show how in our society when people are different from use, we make judgment using previous stereotypes we have seen from these culture.

Yet in the podcast Koening, the lead reporter, does a great jobing with calling this racist statements out. She brings up that though in the case they say Adnan is Pakistani, he isn’t. He is american, with Pakistani heritage and brought up with Muslim culture. Koening begins to question this trails handling of race.


Through these podcast, Race and how we define is brought to the for front. In our society, if we continue to bring up race and talk about it we will have more progress than if we pretend races is not a factor in our society.

(Most of my examples are from Episode 6 &7. But I also highly suggest listing to all of Serial.) 

A "Modern" Cultural Analysis

Modern Family is my personal favorite comedy show on TV, and a majority of world agrees too. The show wins pretty much all the awards it gets nominated for. However I have recently I've started to question myself as to why I am completely addicted to this show. I figured out that I am laughing at the punch lines and themes within the episodes that obtain multiple stereotypes. Modern Family often receives a lot of criticism from journalists and audiences for often relying too much on stereotyping; but even then, Modern Family is critically cherished and pardoned from it. But it has only recently struck me that the reasons that I laugh a lot at this show are not what I expected. In particular, I laugh more at the stereotypes of the characters than the characters personality or actions. I am laughing at the stereotypes which the writers use and exploit for comedic effect.

The majority of the people who watch Modern Family, including myself, all tend to laugh at the characters instead of with them.

A character that goes by the name Gloria is the perfect example for this. Gloria is a foreign, striking Colombian born woman who struggles to speak English. Her stereotypical representation is very common in television…. a woman from a country that is outside of the United States in sitcoms all of the time. Most of her humor comes from either her accent or her apparently somewhat violent and stereotypical Colombian past vs her actual lines. Should we feel comfortable laughing at a character that is struggling at her pronunciation and fitting into the American society?

I still enjoy watching this show and support it, but I would love it if I could feel more comfortable laughing at half the jokes on the show that seem to stem from negative and arguably offensive stereotypes.

Invention for Oskar

My invention is called The Find A-Like 3000.
With this device, you will be able to type in any question (for example: how many people right now are chewing bubblegum) The Find A-Like 3000 will then use its super high-tech technology to calculate how many people apply to that question. It will then list the name, age, and distance from your machine, of the people who would fall under the specific category you asked.
This would be achieved by an orbiting satellite that is constantly going around the earth in a very scientific pattern, collecting all of this data as the question gets entered into the system. The total collection of the data takes aprox. 41/2 minutes. You can also edit your preferences before you search to show only people in a certain amount of distance from you.

Oskar would most definitely benefit from this invention for many reasons. For one, I think that he would find it very interesting. But two, and more importantly, it would help answer a lot of questions that he had throughout the novel. It would definitely help a more physical question like, “how many people knew my dad?” or “who within a 5 mile radius from my home has the last name Black?” But it could also help with a lot of questions that relate to Oskar on a more mental level, like “who else is sad like me right now?” I think that Oskar would find comfort and fascination in knowing that people were feeling just the way he was and that he wasn’t alone.

Universal Pigment: Cultural Analysis

The earliest recollection I have with race was when I was in second grade and my class went to the library. That day there was a guest author/Illustrator. Her book focused on how everyone is the same and should not be determined by the color of your skin. To make her theory more easily understandable for the young children, she started to paint a child she only used the color brown for skin. She drew multiple pictures during her presentation, and each one of them she used only different shades of brown. At the end of her presentation she had a collection of over ten drawings displayed in the front. She asked if we noticed anything about what she did to the pictures. It took a while, but eventually someone cracked her code and she revealed that she had only been using different shades of brown.
This Authors showed that everyone is the same by showing that everyone it a different shade of the same color. she went on to explain how it would make no sense to judge someone on their skin tone because in all actuality we are all the same color. This idea of everyone being the same is not appreciated as it shood be in our everyday society. If every one opened their eyes and noticed how ridiculous it is to judge someone on a pigment of skin the world would be a more positive and more advanced place.

Key Finder 5000

In the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar, the protagonist, encounters a key that he must use to find out more about his deceased father. The Key Finder 5000 is a hand held device that is about the size of a cell phone. It has a glass screen with all metal sides and back. On the backside, there is a place to change the three double a batteries that the device requires. It comes in many different colors including white which could go well with Oskar's normal preferred outfit. This device has a scanner that scans whatever key you are holding. It then has an antenna that pops out and scans an area around you that reaches up to 300 feet. When it finds the keyhole that matches the shape of the key that was initially scanned, it makes a hum that gets louder and louder until it starts to beep. When it beeps, you know that you are within eight feet of the keyhole. Finally, when you are done looking for the keyhole, you can delete the memory of the key shape that was scanned. This will be helpful because the device won't beep and hum after you have found the keyhole and left wherever you were at.

The Key Finder 5000 will help Oskar save a lot of time finding out what this key has to do with his father. The majority of the time in the book that Oskar is mentioned, he is actively looking for clues to find out where this key belongs and whom it belongs to. This device will also help Oskar to keep himself out of danger. The city that Oskar lives in can be a dangerous place for a child and Oskar is constantly walking all over town to find where it belongs. Even though in the end we find out that his mother knew about his adventures the whole time, he still could have gotten into some sticky situations. 

Racism's Continuance in Modern Culture

Martin Luther King Jr. began his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech exactly fifty-two years ago from today, dictating, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” King’s abolitionist actions greatly increased the stride toward total racial equality, yet racism is still existent today. The continuance of racism is clearly portrayed in modern media. Scrubs, a modern television show which centers on an emerging doctor dubbed J.D. and his life inside and out of Sacred Heart Hospital, where he learns of both medicine and life itself, is erupting with racism. Episode eight of season one, titled “My Fifteen Minutes,” specifically exhibits racism at its core. Although predominant steps have been taken to the elimination of racism, media clearly supports the continuance of racism today.

In “My Fifteen Minutes,” mostly all of the racism that exists is targeted at blacks. After J.D. and Turk, a surgeon friend to J.D., rescue a cameraman, an interviewer asks Turk about the challenges that he faces as a result of him being a black doctor. The interviewer automatically assumes that Turk is discriminated as a doctor because of his race. Additionally after the rescue, Sacred Heart Hospital uses Turk’s face to advertise diversity of the hospital. The hospital is filled with posters of Turk with words such as “Our MD’s have mad skills” as well as “time to get an EKG, G” and also “Wazzzupp?” This is an instance of racism because it is enforcing the stereotype that black people use slang and improper english. Turk states that even as a kid, he was used as a “face” because of his race. In a school Science Fair, Turk is announced the winner, even though he didn’t enter the competition. The school’s goal was to have Turk posted in the newspaper as winner of the Science Fair, proving that the school has diversity. Clearly, racism is still existent in the modern media, specifically Scrubs.

Turk is not the only one who experiences racism. Laverne, a nurse at Sacred Heart, also proves racism’s continuance. In “My Fifteen Minutes,” Laverne reinforces the black stereotype of the Mammy. The Mammy is characterized as a strong, large black women that acts as a motherly figure, stripped of sexual allure. This defines Laverne perfectly. In the episode, Laverne is constantly checking up on workers of Sacred Heart. She even offers hot chocolate to one of the doctors who is in distress. Laverne is furthermore characterized as a powerful woman, as she exclaims “excuse me” whenever any aggression is targeted at her. Scrubs enforcement of the racist stereotype referred to as the Mammy proves racism’s continuance.

Scrubs’ episode “My Fifteen Minutes” proves that racism remains intact today as the media of today enforces racism as well as racist stereotypes. In the episode, surgeon Turk is defined by his race and not for his actions or thoughts. Turk is characterized by countless black stereotypes. Additionally, “My Fifteen Minutes” enforces the ethnic notion called the Manny through motherly, intimidating Laverne. Furthermore, in the episode, Turk explains that he wants to be acknowledged because of his skills and successes, but never gets the opportunity because of his race. This proves that Scrubs defines race as a permanent, determining characteristic of people. The incredible popularity of Scrubs supports that racism is known throughout the entire modern world. It is evident that predominantly through media, racism is still an existing part of culture as we know it.

Short clip from "My Fifteen Minutes"

Cultural Analysis of the Oscar Nominations

 In the past twenty years, only twice, in 1998 and 2011, have African-Americans not been nominated in any category in the Oscars. 2015 marks one more year that African-Americans have not been nominated for an academy award. This year this controversy has become more of an issue- no doubt because of riots elicited from the cases Ferguson or Eric Garner. This year, Selma, a movie about Martin Luther King Jr., was released to rave reviews. To the dismay of many, Selma was nominated for no best actor/actress awards, including supporting actor or actress. This verdict by the Academy comes immediately after 12 Years A Slave won best actress in a supporting role, writing, and picture last year. People were enraged by this verdict because they see it as a racial backlash against the events of this previous summer. On the contrary, I think that the nominations are not quite as racially biased as some would make them out to be, but rather are fueling anger at legitimate issues, like Trayvon Martin, at less substantial quandaries such as the Oscar nominations.

Selma is nominated for a best picture award, which means the academy is recognizing the film as a provocative and thoughtful movie. The fact that no African-Americans were nominated for an award I think can be boiled down to one main point-- the Academy looks for excellence in the films it produces. There were a lot of great performances this year, and no doubt the actors and actresses in Selma were passionate about the art they created, but maybe they didn't stand out against other artists, who happen to be white. The Academy proved itself to not discriminate nominations last year when, deservingly, Lupita Nyong'o won for best supporting actress. I must admit that I have not seen Selma, but what I've heard, and this is not biased analyzing of the movie, I've heard that had the movie not been about the Civil Rights Movement it wouldn't be considered half a good a movie as it is currently.

The Oscars do not look to make a comment on race in America. They are there to award original, thought provoking films that make people have an emotional or cognitive response. The academy has awarded Selma the honor of being nominated as a best picture, which is a status that many movies cannot claim to have held. The Academy may be biased because the entire board is comprised of white people, but they have absolutely nothing to gain from being biased in their opinions. Even if they were biased, isn't it the job of a judge, at one point or another, become biased?

There is a problem with race in this country, there is no doubt about that. I think that tensions are running high at the moment, and that any type of racial grievance is viewed as the penultimate moment in race relations in this country. There are events, such as in Ferguson, that warrant upheaval, but there are other events, such as Oscar nominations, that don't change the world that much. The Oscars, while fun to watch both the program and the movies being awarded, doesn't drastically change the way we view the world. I can't even remember what movie won best picture in 2013, and I don't have only a vague memory of what the nominations for best picture were in 2014. Movies are worth remembering not for the awards they have but for the impact on people. The best art and ideas were hardly appreciated as much as they should have when the artist was alive. The Great Gatsby was seen as a worthless book for years after it was published, George Seurat was viewed as a mockery to art when he created A Sunday On La Grande Jatte, but now it is considered a masterpiece. Rarely is art or ideas appreciated in their time. I'm sure Selma is an awe inspiring movie, and I'm even more certain that the topics and issues it discusses are more prevalent today than at any other time. Selma is an inspiration to a league of people, and shouldn't be considered any less powerful because it was to nominated for an Oscar.

Racial Polarization: Cultural Analysis

My sister Natalie, majoring in Race and ethnic studies at the University of Chicago, recently had this article published in the school newspaper:

In addition to feeling a very similar personal connection to the article, I think that it considers a very crucial aspect of race relations in society. Being racially mixed, and looking racially ambiguous, I too am constantly asked the question, “so what are you?” I think that when we ask each other questions like this, we are making the mistake of equating racial identity to something as objectively concrete as height or eye color. I personally do not necessarily identify with any of my racial backgrounds, but instead all of them.

When we ask each other for these racially concrete answers; Black or white, we make the same mistake we do when asking someone if they are heterosexual or homosexual. I believe that we should be able to embody all of our cultural identities, and not just pieces of them. I am not only African-American, or only Native American Indian, or only Dominican. I embody all of the diverse pieces of my ancestry, and try to give that same right to everyone, regardless of how they are racially categorized.

Inventing a Response: Heavy Boot Remover

The invention is a siren that goes off whenever someone has heavy boots. It will ring loudly enough to be heard but not so loud as to really disturb anyone. When it goes off, it will signal to all the parents in the world, who will flock to that person and make them feel better. They will be located all over the world, in every country, and there will always be at least one person there to answer it.

I think this invention will help Oskar because the thing he needs most (in my opinion) is a parent who can really be there for him. On page 172, Oskar writes in his feelings book about his mom, and it really shows how she can’t be there for him in the way he needs her. She’s still grieving in her own way, which Oskar doesn’t understand, and that makes it harder for him to cope. Throughout the book he also is confused about why his mother is laughing, why she’s with Ron, etc. Because it is hard for him to understand the way she’s grieving, she can’t be there for him as a mother, and only really as a close friend. Having this siren would mean that whenever Oskar needed someone to be a parent to him, he would have access to someone who could comfort him.

The Machine: An Invention

My invention for Oskar is somewhat of a time capsule. What if each person, when they turned 10 maybe, got a machine comprised of a voice recorder, video camera, regular camer, and (this being the more extraordinary feature) an emotion capturer? Throughout their life each person would record thoughts, ideas, dreams, statements to loved ones, their vision of the world and of themselves, and would connect the emotion capturer to their skin and pour the way they feel their emotions. It would capture the exact physical feeling and thought that each person experienced in their moments of great joy and sadness. The machine would be small enough to always carry around and would have the ability to transfer all of its data to another person's machine so they could see and feel what the other person saw and felt.

Oskar would love this machine because he needs a connection with his father. Although, now that I think about it, maybe it would hinder his ability to get over his grief. But hopefully it would, because Oskar desperately needs more of his father in his life. WHen he says on page 1, "I could invent a teakettle that reads in Dad's voice so I could fall asleep," he shows his yearning for his father. When he says to Ron on page 3," You're not my dad and you never will be," he shows that he doesn't want to replace his dad, and isn't ready to let go of his dad.

The Fake Body Machine

The invention I would create to help Oskar cope with the loss of his father would be a machine that could create a fake body that people could use in funerals if there is no body. The device would require a picture of the person and the machine that looks like a casket would scan the picture. The machine would require wax to create the body and different colored ink. The machine would create a final product of a human looking wax body that would give people a body a t a funeral.

When Oskar, his grandmother, and his mom go to his dad’s funeral, Oskar questions why they are even going to the funeral because there was no body. Oskar did not understand why it was necessary to go to a funereal that had no body. With the new machine, there would be a body for Oskar to see and I think that would have really helped Oskar move on from the passing of his father.

Invention for Oskar

An invention that I think would help Oskar would be a device that shows you the lock that any key opens. It would be like a little box and you would put a key in it. Theres a scanner inside that examines the key and then matches it up with the lock it unlocks. Then it would print out a picture of what it unlocks, along with the address and how to get there.

This invention would really help Oskar, because when he finds the key in his dad’s closet, he spends nearly a year and dedicates all his extra time into finding what it unlocks. He became enamored with this mission, because he wanted to connect with his dad one more time, even though what it unlocked had nothing to do with his father. If Oskar had this invention, it would have saved him endless hours searching for something that didn’t really matter to him, and helped him cope with how much he misses his dad.