Student Documentary Showcase

Come experience a documentary that is sure to open your eyes and make you want to learn more. Our documentary features a Jewish husband and wife as well as a Christian husband and wife. The two couples have been close friends for many years, but do they understand each other's religions?

Our participants are fascinating, and you won’t want to miss this FREE screening. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show on May 8th at 12:45 PM. Four documentaries will be shown; each roughly 15 minutes long. Shalom.

Documentary Update

Even though our group had to change our original documentary topic, I am happy with the new direction we took and think that our message is a meaningful one.

We interviewed a Jewish couple who are friends with my grandparents, who are Christians. We also interviewed my grandparents about their interfaith friendship/relationship with the Jewish couple. We finished filming before Easter break and have almost 2 hours of footage. Based on this, I do not think that we will have any trouble meeting the required 10-12 minute time limit.

Our participants were really excited to help with our project in any way possible. We have a plethora of old photographs and it was easy to talk with all 4 of our participants. Our documentary group is ready to start editing footage. We plan to put our footage on an external hard drive and will start editing this week so we can have a rough cut done by the April 24 deadline.

What's With Reality TV?

“Does television expose us to a diversity of people from all sorts of places with different lifestyles from our own? Or has TV replaced reality with “simulacra” as Baudrillard wrote?” I believe that the answer to that question varies, depending on what you choose to watch on television. However, after watching an evening of Monday night prime time television, I’d have to say I agree more with Jean Baudrillard’s theory.

Before this assignment and taking a Mass Communications course, I didn’t give as much thought to the reality that television presents to the world… or should I say the “reality TV” that is presented to the world. When I was asked to watch an entire evening of prime time television, I found myself gravitating to the same type of shows. Reality television has practically taken over the spotlight and you can almost always find some sort of reality program airing throughout the day.

At 8:00 PM last Monday evening, I began flipping through the channels and came across “Deal or No Deal” on NBC. I can’t help but leave this show on when I see it. I watched the show until it ended at 9:00 PM, and it was the same as always. It’s hard to watch this show and not think that if you were a contestant, you wouldn’t be greedy and would quit after winning a certain amount of money; however, it seems like the contestants can’t get enough and risk it all every time.

After the show ended, I knew I had to browse for thirty minutes before “The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman” came on at 9:30 PM. I stumbled across ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” I feel like this show is just an American Idol “wannabe,” and it doesn’t really interest me. However, if the show is still on after a few seasons, it must be doing well. Viewers can text or call-in to vote for their favorite couple. I can only imagine how many people spend their money on this…

Finally, the one show I was actually looking forward to watching came on ABC. On Easter, my mom asked me if I was going to watch the new season of “The Bachelor,” and I probably wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for her! I can’t explain why this show is addicting, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Our society fixates on what we see on television, but when you evaluate the prime time television I watched on Monday, you have to ask yourself if the world we are living in is really the way it’s presented on TV. I don’t think it is. How many people do you know who have won millions on a game show, danced with a celebrity, or married someone they met on a reality show? The world doesn’t work that way. It’s odd that we base so much of our lives on what we see on television: hairstyles, fashion, and even the way we talk, when reality television isn’t an accurate representation of the world.

“Media scholar Joshua Meyrowitz argues that the very existence of television is an influence on society because it breaks down the physical barriers that separate people,” according to Hanson's "Mass Communication: Living in a Media World." Meyrowitz believes that television gives everyone the same, equal view of the world, but if we are watching reality TV, our view of the world is very different than if we are watching CNN. I think that it’s important to realize that reality TV is fun for entertainment, but we must not live our lives based on what we see on these shows.

Anatomy Schmatomy

When I am asked about my favorite TV show, nothing in particular pops into my head. It’s not that I don’t like TV… in fact; it is usually on when I am cooking lunch or while I’m doing schoolwork. I just honestly don’t have time to watch the same show every week.

So for this blog, I decided to research statistics concerning “Grey’s Anatomy” because it seems like every person I know is obsessed with the show. I have NEVER seen a single episode because I was always at practice when it was on television, and I’ve never had the urge to watch it online.

According to the Nielson ratings at USAToday, "Grey’s Anatomy" averages #5 on the top 20 list for broadcast programs. According to this site, 25.8 million viewers tune into ABC every Thursday at 9 PM.

The Nielson ratings at Zap2It rank "Grey’s Anatomy" #6 on the top 20 list of Network Primetime Series. This is the average for the 2006 – 2007 season through April 1, 2007.

The biggest news for "Grey’s Anatomy" was that the show drew its second-largest audience ever during the concluding episode of the season. According to TVGuide, an amazing 27.29 million people tuned in. This was a jump of 1.7 million people from the previous week. “That was also ABC’s largest audience in the Thursday 9 pm hour with series programming in more than six and a half years (since a May 2000 millionaire).”

Other shows during the same time-slot include "Deal or No Deal" and "CSI." I would most likely watch one of these shows instead of "Grey’s Anatomy" because I’m not a fan of “hospital shows.” Maybe I’m just being stereotypical, because I haven’t seen an episode, but anything involving death, blood, pain, or hospitals is not appealing to me. I’d much rather watch something happy, but obviously I’m unlike 27 million viewers in the United States!

Love Actually

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport. General opinion makes out that we live in a world of hatred and greed - but I don't see that - seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there: fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, none of the phone calls from people on board were messages of hate or revenge; they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love, actually, is all around.”
- Hugh Grant

The opening line of “Love Actually” is powerful, and so true. Often, we see so many negative things in today’s world that we simply forget to look around and realize how much happiness, comfort, and love there is all around us. Directed by Richard Curtis, “Love Actually” is actually my favorite movie. While most people select a classic as their “number one” film, I’m hooked on “Love Actually” and continue to watch this film over and over and laugh, cry, smile, and get goose bumps.

Curtis is credited with films such as “Bridget Jones’s Diary” & “Notting Hill.” “Love Actually” was nominated for two Golden Globes and won the title of “Best British Film” at the UK’s Empire Awards. The film features Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Rowan Atkinson and Bill Nighy to only name a few!

Released in time for the Christmas season is 2003, the stories of different couples unfold and intertwine throughout the film. I think I love it so much because all of the different stories seem very close to reality. The film examines some relationships that are working and some that are not working. Curtis does an excellent job developing each character and explaining their story.

“Love Actually” isn’t your typical “romantic comedy” as some might think. The story appeals to both men and women and isn’t just “happy-sappy” the entire time. Young couples, older
couples, and single friends face death, love affairs, and happy endings.

The film is set primarily in England and follows the lives of the new Prime Minister and bachelor (Hugh Grant), a writer, a married couple facing hard times, a man who has just lost his wife, a little boy finding himself in love for the first time, a newly married couple, young single men hoping to find love, etc. etc. etc.

No matter what you're situation in life, especially regarding relationships, you will connect with a character in this film. You need to see it for yourself and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

collide, run into, smash into, bump into…CRASH

In my opinion, “Crash” is indeed worthy of its 2004 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year. Director/writer of “Crash,” Paul Haggis, is no stranger to fame and also wrote the screenplay for Best Picture Winner “Million Dollar Baby” the previous year. Additionally, Haggis’ résumé includes writing for the film, “Letters from Iwo Jima,” and revising the screenplay for “Casino Royale.”

Movies are powerful vehicles for transmitting messages to the masses and “Crash” sends a message that everyone can benefit from. Most people will walk away from the film with more knowledge of how they judge others and will become more aware of racial prejudices that still occur in today’s world. “Crash” looks at racism from the perspective of many characters, each playing a unique and vital role in the film.

- A district attorney and his unhappy wife
- Two police detectives who are also lovers
- A police officer with a sick father
- A young police officer with a racist partner
- Two young black men who are car thieves
- A Mexican-American locksmith
- A Chinese man and his wife
- A Persian man without a strong English vocabulary
- A black TV director and his wife
…and the list goes on.

Throughout the film, the characters crash into each other on a multitude of levels. The story, set in Los Angeles, begins with a car crash and flashes back to the characters’ lives on the previous day. Their lives are intertwined and many of the characters are misjudged because of their racial/ethnic background. Because of stereotypes and racism, problems and events arise as the plot unfolds.

The district attorney’s wife (played by Sandra Bullock) realizes that she is unhappy, and this may be the source of her prejudice and distrust toward others. The Mexican American locksmith is continually mistaken as a gang member, while he is simply trying to provide for his family. In one scene, he is changing the locks at the district attorney’s home when Bullock says:

“I would like the locks changed again in the morning. And you might mention that we'd appreciate it if next time they didn't send a gang member...Yes, the guy with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, the prison tattoo...I am telling you. Your amigo in there is gonna sell our key to one of his homies.”

This is just one example of the incidences that occur in the film. There are many twists, but Haggis does an excellent job keeping the story realistic. Each of the characters is “relatable,” and it is heart-renching to watch some of them continue down their current path. The overall ending isn’t entirely “happily ever after,” but neither is the real world. I would give this film an A+ for its easy-to-understand language, its powerful imagery, and thought-provoking story.

My Name is...What? My Name Is...Who?

Does the name Philo T. Farnsworth ring a bell? Before we watched the documentary, Big Dreams, Small Screen, I had never heard of Farnsworth. Considering he invented television, you would think that I would have at least recognized his name because we are a generation that has grown up watching television programs. However, there is a reason I don’t recognize his name…

Farnsworth’s interest in television began when he found science and radio magazines in the attic of his home in Idaho. By age 14, he already had a blueprint for an electronic TV system. So why do we associate the name, Vladimir Zworykin, with the invention of television and not the name of a small town genius?

Zworykin was backed by RCA and therefore had power over Farnsworth. Farnsworth rejected an offer of $100,000 from RCA for his entire company, but in the end, RCA still ended up with the credit. RCA unveiled their TV at the 1939 New York World’s Fair and Franklin D. Roosevelt even gave the first speech about television. Farnsworth had unveiled his television 5 years earlier, but was somehow forgotten. Why? This is definitely a case of David and Goliath: only the little guy didn’t win.

The idea of domination/subordination can help explain Farnsworth’s story. Paula S. Rothenberg states on page 112 of “Race, Class, and Gender in the United States,” that “the dominant group usually holds all of the open power and authority and determines the ways in which power may be acceptably used.”

In this case, RCA was the dominant group. RCA wrongly used their power to send Zworykin to Farnsworth’s lab to steal the blueprints of his television tube. RCA had power because they were a large company and had money to finance research. Originally, Farnsworth went to the bank and borrowed $25,000 because he promised to have a picture within one year; however, RCA had many more resources. It’s unfair that RCA was able to maintain power over Farnsworth, but they were able to do so because they were such a well known company. Unfortunately, it makes sense that people would trust a radio giant rather than one unknown man.

Farnsworth eventually won the patent battle and was paid loyalties, but “RCA got credit for developing and presenting television,” according to the documentary “Big Dreams, Small Screen.” Farnsworth deserved to have the credit, but was powerless against the RCA giant.