Culture

In class last week, we discussed different cultures and how different gestures have different meanings in other countries. Its important for us to study other cultures so that we dont do a gesture that may disrespect their culture. For example, "your mama" jokes may be funny for us, but it may be disrespectful to others who arent use to the jokes. There are many different gestures that can be misinterpreted or have different meanings. I learned in class from a reading that the "A-OK" gesture can be related to money in the Japanese culture. In our culture we use gestures such as the head not to say "whats up" or even instead of doing high fives we say "pound it" and put up our fists to pound together. So, if we study other cultures and their gestures it will save us the trouble of being disresepctful to them!

Bronx Tale: Groups and Micro-Macro Dynamics

In the movie, The Bronx Tale, Collogero belongs to many groups. He belongs to Sonny’s crew, his family, his own “crew” of friends, the group that consists of Jane and himself, the Italian group, the Sonny and Collogero group, and the community that he lives in. I think that Collogero belongs mostly in a group alone with Sonny. Collogero and Sonny had a special bond, Sonny was like a second father to “Cee”. Sonny was always there for Collogero and gave him advice in life and to make the right decisions along the way. He somewhat could be put in Sonny’s crew, but when he was with the crew he spent most of his time with Sonny by his side. Sonny cared for Collogero like he was his son, he looked out for him and told him that who he was hanging out with was not the road that he should be taking. He wanted Cee to become successful and stay in school, he didn’t want him making the wrong decisions and ending up with a life like his. Collogero’s master status was being Sonny’s “boy”, he was one of Sonny’s main guys. Many people would treat Collogero with respect after becoming apart of his crew. He was more noticed, and became popular among his community. He was known as “Cee” everywhere he went, Sonny gave him that name when he was a boy. Sonny treated him well, Cee was respected now that he rolled with Sonny. I think that that was his master status because if he wasn’t known as Sonny’s boy, people would’ve treated him as just plain old Collogero, a son of a bus driver. He became well known and wanted to use the status as an advantage. He enjoyed being affiliated with Sonny and his crew. I think that throughout the movie his master status stayed constant, he loved that he was Sonny’s boy that sometimes his dad was jealous that he spent more time with Sonny than him. In the end, he realized that he could be a part of Sonny’s crew but still be himself.
There was a lot of racism seen in the movie. Throughout the movie, people were hated by the color they were and the neighborhood they came from. When one race entered another races territory they were discriminated on and hated by the people who lived in that community. In the movie, Collogero ends up liking a colored girl, Jane. He was very skeptical about the dating situation and didn’t know how people among his race and in his groups/ community would react. Collogero and Jane were separated by the different “worlds” they came from. They both lived in totally different neighborhoods and were different colors; it didn’t stop them from dating because they truly liked each other. When Collogero stepped foot in Jane’s neighborhood, he was hated and yelled at by people from Jane’s community. They were yelling at Collogero telling him to leave and go back where he belongs. Another situation was when the blacks entered Collogero’s neighborhood. A few black teens were riding their bikes through the neighborhood and Collogero’s friends jumped the teens and beat them up until they were not able to walk. These boys did nothing to disturb their community, it was the fact that these boys were black that they were being beat up.

Remembering 9/11

On Friday, September 11, we remembered those who died and honored those who risked and saved lives 8 years ago. The 2001 terrorist attack was an event that touched us all, and is still emotional for many. After this event, it brought America together and stregthened the nation. Also, Americans were more aware of everything. Stereotypes became more apparent by judging others by their race, religion, and look. Airports and other trasportations became more strict, no liquids on the plane was one of the rules established in the airports. Security was deffinatley more tighter than normal, saftey was the most important for the nation. To keep everything and everyone secure. Many peoples perspectives changed towards others and trust issues came in. Overall, 9/11 is a day of rememberence and honor for those who died, and risked their lives to save the victims in need of help. Even though this even was emotional for everyone, we still stayed strong and continue to stay strong throughout everything.

Survival of the Fittest

On Friday, 16 students were chosen to act out a situation. The situation was that we were on a boat and it sunk and we all got on a boat that only held 9 people. Since the boat could only hold 9 people, 7 of us had to get off the boat. As a group we had to figure out who should stay and who should go. I was one of the people on the boat. And I was an old man who could barely walk and I had a cane, I was 60 years old. The group narrowed down decisions of who should leave the boat, and "my wife" and I were both voted off because of our age. I was kind of upset that people jump to conclusion to send us off just because of our age, but then again i guess it was okay since I lived my life already. But, I dont think its right that they just assumed that since were older we should get rejected because were going to "die" soon. Overall, it was an intresting class to see how we would react. Out of the 9 who survived, I guess they were just the fittest out of us all.