Nosedive Analysis

Living by the restrictions that society places upon us, humanity is constrained to follow rules. Television writers were forced to write a certain way and were forced to leave out information that society would deem as improper, rude, and even racist. However, in 1971, a groundbreaking American television sitcom broke through societal boundaries and transformed the way that the American audience viewed television. Engulfed by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, fight for women's right, and the Watergate scandal, Norman Lear persevered through stereotypes and entertainment norms with his show All in the Family. This show approached its audience in a very blunt and crude manner; it made conflict the center of its comedy. It dealt with contemporary cultural issues in a relatable way, which blue allowed blue-collar workers to learn about their current everyday issues and concerns. Through his show All in the Family, Norman Lear highlighted sensitive topics such as racism, bigotry, and sexual relations to prove that they are still alive in our country; thus, Norman Lear is an agent of change by bringing awareness to social issues.

Ever since the integration of technology and social media, we have changed as a society in how we interact, make conversation, and go about our daily lives. In the novel Feed, by M.T Anderson, the possible consequences of our dependence on technology and social media are highlighted through experiences between several teenagers in the future. They all live in a world that is the equivalent of a hyped up social media, which has taken over the way we interact with people. It becomes evident that M.T Anderson does not view our generation with applause, rather with disdain and pessimism for what we are doing to affect our future generations socially, politically, and economically. From the beginning of the novel, the reader

I feel the article explores the political conflicts that arise when aspirations collide across a generational divide marked by sharply different political agendas. The character Tricia is a young, single mother whose family and financial difficulties reflect the circumstances of the urban poor. Furthermore, she delivers a compelling performance in scenes that reflect just how city policies affect individuals.

In the film ‘Crash’ directed by Paul Haggis in 2004, several lives cross paths because of an adage, ‘it’s a small world’. The characters come from different backgrounds and social class, consequence, the underlying tone of race is presented in a facet which is a cause for concern. In today’s current tension infested race topic, stereotypes tend to push the notion that one’s perception of race, gender and class must be reality. The question becomes, where does an individual develop these notion and perception and does the blame belong to media and film. Looking at the movie ‘Crash’, it was nominated for over 100 awards and won 3 Oscars; impeccably depicted the intertwining of gender, race and social class that one would assume that the movie’s a depiction of reality. One may conclude that movies are responsible for the perpetual class and virtue given to the middle and upper classes only. Although Parenti’s belief that Hollywood films always attach virtue to the well-off middle and upper classes this is not always the class. Hollywood media and films are guilty of assigning privilege to some and strife to others, however the characters in the movie Crash, Brenden Fraser, Chris Bridges and Thandie Newton all form different economical classes display different types of class and virtue.

In Keller's article, "The Twitter Trap," he discusses the positive and negative issues of social media and technology on today's youth. In his examples, he elaborates on the loss of humanity in how the necessity of real-life situations and conversations that make people alive in their souls is disappearing as social media continues to grow more addictive. With the overwhelming growth of social media, even the deemed "smart students" are losing their ability to pinpoint pattern in situations that to the earlier generation would consider obvious. Overall, Keller's main concern and point of the article states that," … my inner worrywart wonders whether the new technologies overtaking us may be eroding characteristics that are essentially human: our ability to reflect, our pursuit of meaning, genuine empathy, a sense of community connected by something deeper than snark or political affinity."

In 2011, New York Times executive editor, Bill Keller, wrote an article entitled, “The Twitter Trap” in which he uses the social media site to discuss its’ impact on society, and the negative ramifications. The article attempts to illustrate the potential dangers of social media on relationships, the functioning of the brain, as well as the education and intelligence of current and future generations. He claims that social media can be dangerous because “innovation comes at a price” and Keller’s concern is that “the price is a piece of ourselves”, which becomes the basis of his argument throughout the article (Keller). Keller’s is directing his article, and consequently his argument towards the New York Times readership, and even more specifically those who are parents of children on social media, as well as general Twitter and social media users.

In his passionately written article “The Backlash Against Serial—and Why It’s Wrong,” author Conor Friedersdorf comes to the podcast’s defense following the harsh criticisms that have been thrown at Serial since its debut. Serial is a spinoff series from parent podcast This American Life, which details the investigation and reinvestigation of a brutal 1999 murder involving high school lovers of the Baltimore area. Friedersdorf’s piece not only comes to defend Serial’s honor, but it also fights back and grapples with these disparagements thrown at the podcast. In particular, the accused transgressions from fellow writers Jay Caspian Kang in his own work “Serial and White Reporter Privilege” and Jeff Yang’s post from Quartz. In my judgement, Friedersdorf does an excellent job refuting Kang’s and Yang’s opposing views and persuading his audience that Serial is innocent of the accused wrongdoings.

While the film “Crash” has several complex characters with storylines that all become interconnected in various ways, the movie is predominantly about how prejudice plays into people’s everyday lives and how such prejudice usually has negative implications. The characters in the film all had their own prejudices, or attitudes judging others in negative ways, which set the stage for discrimination, stereotypes, racism, and scapegoats. Thus, one can see how prejudice plays such a pivotal role in people’s relations with each other. As a result, it is best to analyze this film from a symbolic interactionism point of view by analyzing how the labels the characters encounter in this film affect their perception and in turn create prejudice

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

In life, you never know if you can see the person you may see on the sidewalk or even across the stress. But, in all realities, that person may have a connection to your life. They can be your future spouse, boss, or the murder who may kill your loved ones. In the movie Crash, everyone has connected to each other in a different or common way. The film takes place in Los Angeles, where minorities are dealing with racial tensions while living in the city. The film broadcasts live of many individuals from different socio-economic classes, which they have life-changing experiences during challenges with prejudices and stereotypes. The film shows interpersonal communication which is “The ability to process and gain information between two or many people” (William 20). The film follows the lives of many resides of different races, social class, careers. The group main character in these groups is John Ryan and Tom Hasen who are Caucasian LAPD police officers. Cameron and Christine Thayer who are a young African American couple. Peter and Anthony who are young adults African- American car thief’s. Farhad who’s an Prussian business owner. Daniel who’s an Latin American locksmith. Lastly, Shaniqua Johnson who an African American administrator.

As an American we have taken pride in our steady advancement and progression yet this generation have allowed technology to take the place of our desired expectations in life. In this socialization people tend to slack off into a world of illusion. This era of time from 2001 to the present time we should be named Generation Anti- Social Slacker. This generation is notorious for having no sense of direction we are easily distracted by unnecessary events and issues. Generation Anti- social Slackers lives in a fictitious world where we are allowed to create goals. As a member of the Anti- Social Slacker Generation our goals of achieving the American dream of fame and fortune are to idealistic and since we value

The TV series Shameless is based on a family that lives on the South Side of Chicago. The show is based off the dramatic and chaotic life of the Gallagher family. The family of six children depends on the oldest sister, Fiona, to take care of the family due to the absence of the mother and their incapable alcoholic father who comes and goes as he pleases. The unstable family has to cope with the struggles faced with having little money and learning how to take care of themselves and also each other. In this paper, I claim that the show Shameless represents the stereotypical ideas of the poor class through the main character Frank Gallagher, for he is portrayed as a lazy, alcoholic father involved in criminal activities. In the following pages, I will provide research and background information that have examined class stereotypes in media. Then, I will explain the claims that I found in the TV series. I will specifically focus on the class stereotypes of laziness, addiction, and criminal activity that emerge through the character, Frank, throughout the episode.

In 2017 our thoughts and actions are guided and molded in large part by social media, reality television shows and pop culture. Without realizing the extent to which constructed reality and self-curated life exhibitions shape how we see the world, we form perceptions and establish standards of what our lives should look like based on stories and photos posted on Snapchat and Instagram and find ourselves reflexively belting out song lyrics that directly contradict our values. Joan Didion, a unique and relatable but brilliant author, seems to have an understanding that the challenges she faced as a freshman in college in the 1950s would still be relevant and problematic for college students almost 70 years later. In Didion’s essay, “On

Living in the 21st century requires one to stay current with latest technological advancements. Ever since the development of social networking sites, people are now able to create a carefully-crafted identity for themselves. This has led psychologists to question how well these online personalities match the person in front of the computer. The innovative branch of media psychology looks into how social networking portrays individuals and initiates human interactions within a society.

Most of us use social media to communicate with our family, friends and our loved once. Since almost all of my friends live 8000 mile away, I use Facebook, Instagram, and viber to keep in touch with them. Bur recently I started noticing it has become more than a means of communication. I start posting a picture and obsesses about how many likes I get, checking other peoples Facebook just to see if they have more friends than me, believing every post without questioning if it’s a fact and funny enough I start sending friend request for people I don’t even know. Christine Rosen, a senior editor of the New Atlantis and resident fellow at the Ethics and Public policy Center in Wessington, D.C. on “In the Beginning Was the World”, she wrote how technology is affecting the society’s critical reading ability. Peggy Orenstein, an author and a contributing writer for the New York Times, on “I Tweet, Therefore I Am” she talks about how social media is distracting as from fully live in the moment. Even though the development of technology have increased the quality of life, it also brought undeniable challenges to our society. The constant use of social media and internet has increase society attention-seeking, Distracted, and decries critical reading. The use of social media has increased dramatically throughout the years.