Talking Points #4 on Christensen in "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"

Premises:
This article is about...

• racism and sexism that is portrayed by cartoons.
• how culture is affected by what is displayed by the media in today's societies.
• how to relate cartoons to the way of life in reality.
• a secret education that is being taught through the media.
• how the media influences our ways of life.

Author's Argument:
Christensen argues that students, starting at a young age, in today's societies are influenced by what is in the media. Students do not realize that they are manipulated by the media or they do not want to admit to it until it is pointed out to them in cartoon's or other types of media. They also do not realize how sexist and racist the cartoons and other forms of media are until it is broken down for them. The students believe that by publishing their thoughts and information about this in magazines and newspapers, they would be able to get the message out to others about the influence that the media has on people in today's cultural societies.

Evidence:

1. Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream. This indoctrination hits young children especially hard. The "secret education," as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children's books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints. And often that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one community over a weaker counterpart.
2. Kenneth noticed that people of color and poor people are either absent or servants to teh rich, white, pretty people. Tyler pointed out that the roles of men are limited as well. Men must be virile and wield power or be old and the object of "good-nature" humor. Students began seeing beyond the charts I'd rigged up for them. They looked at how overweight people were portrayed as buffoons in episode after episode. they noted the absence of mothers, the wickedness of stepparents.
3. Most students wrote articles for local and national newspapers or magazines. Some published in neighborhood papers, some in church newsletters. The writing in these articles was tighter and cleaner than for-the-teacher essays because it had the potentials for a real audience beyond the classroom walls. The possibility of publishing their pieces changed the level of students' intensity for the project...But, more importantly, the students saw themselves as actors in the world. They were fueled by the opportunity to convince some parents of the long-lasting effects cartoons impose on their children, or to enlighten their peers about the roots of some for their insecurities. Instead of leaving students full of file, standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, I provided them the opportunity to make a difference.

Questions/Comments/Point To Share:
I thought that this article made great points about how the media shapes what we as people are and do in today's communities. The media has the biggest influence on the cultural aspects of societies. People look at the media and become some-what fixated on what is going on with the world around them. People also do not even realize that they are influenced by the media until someone points it out to them. Society sees it as if the media says one thing then it must be either true or close to the truth.

In reading this article, it has made me realize how true it is that the most simplest forms of media, such as children's cartoons, demonstrate racism and sexism in their stories. This article looks at how we can actually watch a cartoon and pick out all the secret hidden messages that occur throughout the cartoons, movies, or even television shows. These types of media have helped shape me to create the ideas that I do believe in. I have also realized that most of the media used to be based around one dominant ethnicity and that is Whiteness. Back then, they did not have colored people play major roles in the media, only whites could. Now, in today's societies, men, women, and people of color are all considered to be equal.