Visions and Voices: Mehfil Massive Response

       This evening I had the privilege of attending a Visions and Voices event titled Mehfil Massive: South Asian Religions Remixed Through Poetry and Music.  This performance featured five different performances all featuring a poetry reading paired with a musical performer.  Although all different, each performer talked about life as a member of a South Asian culture, whether it be Indian, Pakistani, etc, the event brought together all different cultures located in South Asia.  In connection to our class, I thought this event served to generalize South Asian cultures.  Although the performers were recognized for each of the differing ethnic and cultural backgrounds, the host of the show seemed to group all of these cultures together using stereotypes.  Given some was meant as humor, but the hosts continual generalization of the different cultures of South Asia seemed to stereotype the religions of South Asia.
       The event also explored the ethnic identities of many different South Asian religions and cultures.  Multiple performers particularly Tarfia Faizullah and Brooklyn Shanti focused on the struggle of being from South Asia and the obstacles they must overcome because of their culture.  This struggle to find ethnic identity reminded me of both our 140 class as well as AMST 274 because we have focused so much on what ethnic identity is and how it is formed.  Faizullah and Shanti's performance touched on how both the physical display of their ethnicity as well as how institutions determined their life chances in regards to hunger and poverty growing up.  Clearly they overcame and are now performing beautifully the struggles and triumphs in finding their ethnic identities.
     Overall I thought the event featured very talented and diverse performances, yet seemed to generalize the religions and cultures of South Asia.  If I were to make suggestions on how to improve the show, I would order performances based on the religion and culture they feature and emphasize this fact to the audience.  Then I would tie the overall message of each performance together by celebrating each religion and culture for their differences and similarities, in both practice and their appearance in the performances.

Assignment #5, Blog #2

The audience play maybe the most integral role in the ethics of a rhetorical situation because the audience might as well be a judge in this context.  Participants in a discussion clearly outline the points and foundations of the argument and discussion and provide the material to judge whether or not the discussion is rhetorically ethical, however it is the audience who ultimately decides how positive or negative the discussion was because they represent the public.  The audience is vital in creating the tone of the discussion because if one member of the discussion steps out of line, it is up to the audience to criticize this member and ask for a more positive contribution.  Also, for those who act in detrimental way in discussion, it is the audience and public who reprimands this individual for their insensitivity.  In part, the audience guides the discussion because many who face the public are afraid of stepping over the line of political correctness and refrain from points that may upset the public opinion of the individual.

Assignment #5, Blog #1

I do not think that our current model of public discourse rewards bad faith argumentation however, it does not necessarily punish those who enact this strategy of debate.  Many times television experts discuss topics in which there are two clear sides and opposers will debate more on the negatives of their opponent then the positives of their argument.  The success of negative ad campaigns speaks to this because it illustrates how receptive the public is to dragging down the opposing side.  Although public figures are not praised for bad faith argumentation, they are not necessarily rewarded for this act, rather ignored.  An example of this would be a Meet the Press show convened to discuss race and the Trayvon Martin case.  In this discussion, the panelists abstain from bad faith argumentation and negative tactics focusing more on what each argument entails, providing for a much more rhetorically ethical discussion and eliminating the need for bad faith argumentation.  

Assignment #4, Blog #2

Devil in a Blue Dress displays multiple, classic conventions of film noir, most prominently the city of Los Angeles acting as an inescapable labyrinth and the portrayal of social anxieties at the time of its release.  In the film, LA becomes a sort of maze that Easy Rawlins cannot escape.  He is constantly trapped by the city and the people who run it, illustrating the lack of control Easy has over his situation, a theme consistent with the film noir genre.  Devil in a Blue Dress also demonstrates the social anxieties during the time of its release in 1995, an aspect of the film noir genre. Three years before its release, the Rodney King race riots in Los Angeles captivated the nation and demonstrated the tension between races in America.  Devil in a Blue Dress emphasizes race relations throughout the film, highlighting the dysfunction and cruelty of racism in the urban setting.  Easy Rawlins and other African-American characters in the film are placed in inescapable situations due to race and the fear of what not cooperating with powerful, white men might bring.  This echoes anxieties of many Americans during the 1990s, a time in which tensions between races were running high.  Devil in a Blue Dress displays the classic conventions of the film noir genre, emphasizing the role of race and the city of Los Angeles in the film.

Assignment #4, Blog #1

After looking through the works cited lists of both readings, I decided that I would explore The Godfather in the context of race and ethnicity combined with the sense of noir.  Because I've seen this film multiple times and never had thought about it as a racially driven film, I thought it might provide some interesting insight.  The Corleone family epitomizes ethnic identity in the film.  Proud of the their Sicilian roots, the Corleone's only deal with family and other Italians, while living their lives as Italian as possible.  They identify and coordinate their lives through their ethnicity.  In the context of Noir drama, although it is a mob movie, The Godfather  still illustrates classic Noir elements, inlcluding elements dealing with race and ethnicity.  The crime in the movie is associated with the Corleone family because of their crime roots in their Italian culture.

Speaker Series Response

After listening to Andrew McGuire speak about fire-safe cigarettes and his life's work to save lives, I was left with a slightly cynical taste in my mouth.  Although Mr. McGuire's work has saved many lives and can be looked at as a incredibly positive, and worthwhile juncture, the fact that an issue with such a logical, reasonable, and feasible solution took almost 40 years of work to come into law.  There are so many institutions and corporations working against positive change in our nation to protect profits and financial interests that eliminating deaths from cigarette-caused house fires takes a backseat to revenue.  In the context of our class, Mr. McGuire's speech brought up one question in particular in my mind, at what point to social issues become prominent enough to evertake social norms?  For example, the civil rights movement took entirely too long to be realized in our country even though it is logical and reasonable to treat all equally.  Similar to the movement for fire-safe cigarettes, the fight for civil rights was not victorious until many lives had been lost in the flames of social unrest.