Go back to Australia Iggy! [Personal Response to the berating of the Indian community in the music video 'Bounce']

Back in the day, Iggy released the song 'Bounce', which on hearing for the first time, sounds like a typical Azalea song. It has the drop to make you bounce, and the beat to make you sweep.The lyrics, as usual, have words that rhyme with Iggy and make no apparent sense whatsoever. But on watching the video, oh my, you will not think of the song in the same way ever again. The lyrics have no real meaning, and the context of the music video make them demeaning and even more, well, meaningless.
This video is filmed in three different situations, the first film sequence depicting  'The Big Fat Indian Wedding'. Iggy walks in wearing the Sari, but in a very different manner from the norm. The revealing nature of her costume mocks the traditional image of a sari. A sari symbolises a woman's beauty and the Indian culture of respect for the elders. Saris are normally supposed to cover a woman from head to toe, but Iggy walks in almost half naked, revealing more than she should. This is cultural appropriation, and the 'sari' that Iggy has donned is an insult to it's own culture.
During this sequence, there are short screens of Iggy riding an elephant through the streets of Mumbai in a gold clad outfit. This symbolises the power she is trying to exert over the people on the streets. It feels as if she wants to show how she is at the pinnacle of being 'Indian' than anybody else, by sitting on top of the great animal and looking down at the commoners, literally.
In the other scene, Iggy is shown in front of an open temple, where people go to pray everyday. Dancing in front of the idol everyone worships is just not very nice, Iggy. There are also a couple of different people in this scene. A priest is shown conduction the venerations, and after they are done, he takes a big puff of his cigarette. There might be some priests who do that, but showing it on screen is just not acceptable.
These scenes keep on interrupting each other, and this goes on until the end. The lyrics just don't sync with the video, and whatever the song tries to convey is completely false about Indian culture. No, people do not 'bounce' in Indian weddings. No, people do not wear half-cut saris to weddings and dance like you don't give a care in them. People who have a positive opinion about the video say that it celebrates Indian culture. The scenes though just don't look like she's celebrating Indian culture. Sometimes, it feels as if Iggy tries to berate the Indian culture. Given Iggy celebrates Holi and dances in the wedding with a lot of spirit, this video still doesn't give an impression of celebrating Indian culture. It appears as if Iggy and the director were stuck between celebrating Indian culture and appropriating it, and have made a complete mess of what was already a really bad song.

Advertisements and culture

The ad we analysed in class is that of Marlboro's, in around the 1950's. It tries to convey how people who smoke Marlboro are very successful, mentally and emotionally. The clothing of the two people (or couple) in the ad shows us this due to their affluent clothing. Also, going on a vacation in Guatemala wasn't the cheapest thing back then, as air travel was just emerging. They are the sort of people that everyone in todays society try to emulate: successful, affluent and living the life of their dreams. Hence it appeals more so to people's emotions to smoke Marlboro cigarettes so that they could get a taste of the high life, which leads us to conclude that in the ad, affluence and exoticness is highly valued.
Everyone wants to become affluent in todays society. Nowadays, we associate joy with materialistic goods like a huge flat-screen TV or a fancy car. Vacations to far-away places also indulge us more than they used to previously, as we think it is an indication of our affluence, and the demand for exotic goods is on the rise. This shows us how materialistic the world has become now compared to about a couple of decades ago. This shows us how materialistic the world has become now compared to about a couple of decades ago.
This ad, if you notice, has a small indication at the bottom where it says what sort of tips it sells. They mention they sell beauty-tips as well which shows that the ad was targeted a bit towards women of that time. The picture of the man lighting the cigarette for the woman also supports this claim. But no one is really marginalized or empowered in this commercial.  In conclusion, I think that the advertisement successfully does the job of marketing the cigarettes toward a large audience, as no social group is targeted.

The advertisement

Should Colleges Use Admissions Criteria Other Than SAT Scores and Grades? (Persuasive article)

Bard College, a prestigious liberal arts college in upstate New York, will offer students admission if they can write four 2,500-word research papers that earn a B+ or better by the college’s standards. This means that prospectus don't need to worry about low grades or SAT scores.

Is Bard onto something? Should colleges use other admissions criteria instead of SAT scores and grades to find the best candidates? (Bard has been ranked #45 in the Liberal Arts programs and have an acceptance rate of 35% !)

In short, colleges should use admissions criteria other than SAT scores and grades. Although the SAT is a good way to test someone’s initiative to study and to learn while also testing their knowledge on specific subjects but there are some people out there, a lot in fact that aren’t very good at math but are amazing writers. Bard Collage is definitely doing a good thing, if universities focus on a persons specific skills or what they are planning on going into. The research papers look like they would be good ways to test someone’s intelligence. You would obviously want to test the student based on what they want to learn in university, rather than a standardised test score?!

Sometimes, students are in difficult circumstances during high school, limiting their ability to perform to their best. For example, you could imagine yourself moving countries just because your dad got an amazing job in Austria! This would make it hard for you to adjust to the environment, which might in turn lead to poor academic performances. Would you yourself find this a valid criteria for judging you as a person?!

Maybe you fell sick on the day of the SAT. So what, you still have a gold medal in the IMO and have won the Google Science Fair! It's not a fair thing being assessed based solely on your academic achievement.

A lot of students also get stressed out due to their low grades and the standardized tests. Some even go into depression. You don't want the future generation's sensitive minds to become mentally and socially inactive do you?

The good thing is many colleges have started to review applications holistically, which has had a significant impact on the quality of education over the past few years. Your extra-curriculars and out-of-school achievements are recognised. Even though the standardised tests make an important part of your application, other criteria have developed a lot in importance. 

Due to this, the youth have found it easier to develop their own character, rather than studying in their cozy room all day. They have learned to step out of their zone of comfort and become more confident and active members of the society. They have started developing skills to become the citizens of the 21st century. Now, just being based solely on grades doesn't sound like such a good idea does it?

-Jonjo Shelvey

Shelvey has worked as an admissions officer at Garden University, now retired and gives college counselling 

Paper 1 Text 1 Analysis

Audience and Purpose

The text type is rather clear. It is reflective of an event that occurred in the past specifically “…out of the year 1853”, it is written as a story in the first person, and there is dialogue for different characters. For example, the dead guy said “let me lay my head on your breast.” This is an excerpt from a memoir. It merely informs of a person, presumably a nurse’s, experience in Jamaica during the Yellow Fever Crisis. It could be interesting to people who want to know about the experiences of nurses during periods of epidemic. It is more of a reflection rather than an informative piece.

Content and Theme

The text reviews the experiences of a nurse, presumably British, in disease-stricken Jamaica. It goes specifically over her experiences with one of the patients. His name was not released; however we know he was a young surgeon. She conveys the fact that the death affects those around him or her more than it does the unfortunate person who is dying.

Tone and Mood

It seems to be melancholic about her past. For example, “Habituated as I had become with death in its most harrowing forms, I found these scenes then any I had previously borne a part in.” Also she talks about how the death of people affected other people, in the following line: “It was a terrible thing to see young people in the youth and bloom of life suddenly stricken down.”  The atmosphere is very bleak. For example, “needful; for the yellow fever never made a more determined effort to exterminate the English in Jamaica than it did in that dreadful year.” Another example is, “Death is always terrible, no-one need be ashamed to fear it.”
Style and structure
The text is structured very precisely and a specific time period is given,i.e.,1853, the year the author saw many deaths. It consists of many metaphors, like 'the Valley of Shadow of Death', and imagery like "My house was full of sufferers... borne in from the ships of the harbour-sometimes in a dying state... ". It is merely a reflection from the point of view of the author, due to which personal pronouns like I, he and she are used.  The use of personal pronouns in places like "How we bear it (death), depends on much of our constitutions..." also helps the reader feel more connected to the author herself. The three periods in certain places also gives the text a melancholic and reflective feel. The author is successful in creating the intended mood for the audience.

Written task 1 (Rough draft)

Written Task 1 (Rough Draft)

Rationale:
Arnold Schwarzengger is an Austrian-American. He was born in Austria and later immigrated to the USA. He was a body builder then, who later went on to become a big movie star and the governor of the state of California. The chosen written task is an interview, in which Schwarzenegger talks about his experience as a newly immigrated citizen of America. I have chosen an interview so that it sounds more personal. Interviews also have a feel of legitimacy since the experiences are being recounted from first-hand experience.

This interview takes place in the December of 2003, just after he had been elected the Governor of California. It would be published in the New Yorker as it has a wide reach, and many people living in New York are immigrants. Such an interview will help them fit into society and also inspire them to keep on learning English. The interview will be progressive.  The questions will keep on getting more personal, so that the subject feels comfortable.

In this interview, he talks about how his ability to speak English when he had just moved were limited, and how he tried hard to learn the language, and become ‘American’. He also talks about his education in the university of Santa Barbara and how that influenced him as a person. He will also talk about a few of his political ambitions.

This connects to the course material since the impact of Arnold’s language on his culture will be examined. Also, this examines how his identity impacts his career and his personal life. It also implicitly shows the effect of his culture on the political reforms he wants to bring about.

An interview:
It is six in the evening. Arnold Schwarzenegger had just been working out, and his secretary just told me to wait here in his living room. Looking around, I couldn’t believe that all this wealth belongs to a body-builder from Austria, who is now the Governor of California. There are huge chandeliers dangling from the wall, and marble all over the place. As I admire this, the man himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger walks in. We exchange formalities, and get straight down to business, being the straightforward person he is.

Me: ”So Arnold, how does it feel becoming the Governor of California

Schwarzenegger: “It feels amazing! I could never imagine becoming the Governor of California until now! I had a dream like this since I was a child. Back in Austria when I was a child, I always used to dream about moving to America and becoming rich and famous. I think it has been done now, and I’m looking forward to the challenge it brings. Whenever I want to do something, I always work hard, I guess that’s the effect that the Austrian-German culture had on me.”

Me: “And how do you think your Austrian culture has had an effect on you? Has it been good or bad?”

Schwarzenegger: “Well, I really cannot give you a specific answer as there were two sides to this. My father used to keep me and my brother under strict supervision. He used to train us in soccer every Saturday, and would regularly check how we were doing in school. If we weren’t doing very well, let’s just say things would get very ugly. But still, this discipline is what drove me to come to America, learn English and contest the elections!

Me: “You were talking about how you came to America and learnt English. Can you please describe your experience in America as a new immigrant?”

Schwarzenegger: “In body-building I was the king of the mountain, but back in everyday Los Angeles I was still just another immigrant struggling to learn English and make a life. My mind was so fixed on what I was doing in America that I rarely gave a thought to Austria or Germany. Around that time, my brother passed away and I couldn’t attend his funeral due to legal difficulties. Hence I decided to throw myself into working. Going to school, training five hours a day at the gym, working in the construction and mail-order businesses, making appearances, and going to exhibitions—all of it was happening at the same time.”

Me:” How was learning English? Was it hard? Did you find it hard to get the grasp of the language?

Schwarzenegger: ““At the beginning, I’d try to translate everything literally: I would hear or read something, convert it in my head back into German, and then wonder, Why do they have to make English so complicated?” There were things that I seemed unable to grasp no matter who explained them to me. Like contractions. Why couldn’t you say “I have” or “I will” rather than “I’ve” and “I’ll”? Pronunciations were especially dangerous. As a treat, Artie took me to a Jewish-Hungarian restaurant where the dishes were the same as Austrian food. The owner came to take our order, and I said, “I saw this one thing here on the menu which I like. Give me some of your garbage.”

“What did you call my food?”

“Just bring me some of your garbage.”

Artie jumped in right away. “He’s from Austria,” he explained. “He means the cabbage. He’s used to the cabbage from Austria.” There were some other experiences like this as well.”

Me: “How did college classes help you? Did you find learning different in the universities over here? Or was it the same?

Schwarzenegger: “Going to the University of Santa Monica really fired me up to learn. On my very first day in English as a Second Language, all of us foreigners were sitting in the classroom, and the teacher, asked us if we wanted to study outside.

We all looked around trying to figure out what he meant.

He pointed out the window and explained how we could sit under the tree outside and study!

We went out and sat on the grass under the tree in front of the college building. I was so impressed. Compared to the way school worked in Europe, so formal and structured, this was unbelievable! signing up for another class!” I used to talk to Artie a lot then.”

Me: “ You talk about about close friends in America. Who else was really close to you and how did they help in the learning experience?”

Schwarzenegger: “I believe to learn something, you must fully immerse yourself in their culture. For instance, I started to only American girls, no Germans or Austrians. As a result, I found a steady girlfriend Barbara, who was an English teacher. She helped me a lot learning English.”

Me: “That was really nice, getting to know your early years in America. I’m sure it’ll provide the (immigrant) readers some tips and insight into learning English and becoming American! Now, lets get back to the present. What policies are you going to be looking at changing in your time as governor? “

Schwarzenegger: “Specifically, I want to fight for the right to immigrants to have drivers licenses, as they are good ID’s, and its really hard to get around the cities without a proper drivers license.”

Me: ”One last question, what are your plans for the future?”

Schwarzenegger: “I want to rebuild California from the ground up. I also would run for the President, but since I’m not a naturally born American,a provision keeps me from doing so, but I hope that’ll change.”

Me: “Best of luck Arnold! Thanks so much for your time.”

As the interview finishes, he tells a chauffeur to drive me home. Arnold Schwarzenegger: A gentleman, actor, body-builder and politician- what will he become next?

Language and technology: A comparison between Josh McWhorter's and David Crystal's theories

In the technological world, there has been a recent spurt in the growth of texting. This post is going to be a small comparison of Josh McWhorter's and David Crystal's texting theories. According to the Mobile Data Association's report, around 45 million messages have been sent over the past year. This in turn has led to a new form of language, called by Crystalk in his article as 'textspeak'. Many argue that the evolution of this language has had a negative impact on the youth of today, Crystal and McWhorter suggesting otherwise.

 

Both their theories have the same views, but different hypothesis. Both say that the evolution of language is a natural and intriguing thing. McWhorter's says that language has changed it's shape over the decades to accommodate different ideas as well as different people. Crystal in his article states how the word limit on microblogging sites and need to get across information faster has affected textspeak. McWhorter's theory supports the evolution of textspeak by comparing to language in the past, but isn't that specific when it comes to textspeak's evolution, whereas Crystal's theory says how language has evolved with modern technology.

In his speech speech, McWhorter states how textspeak is like a fingered language. He says that just like speaking, people tend to text faster. They want to get across more information in smaller periods of time. But Crystal states that the graphology of texts is completely different. His theory more so says that abbreviations have come widely into use since the advent of textspeak. He believe that this has happened due to peoples desire to use less keystrokes and other similar reasons. McWhorter's theory compares textspeak more so to speech, whereas Crystal thinks that abbreviations are textspeak's structural uniqueness.

But in the end, both of them think that the evolution of textspeak is not to be worried about. It is just the evolution of another dialect, although not consciously. It just reflects the younger generation intelligence.  McWhorter believes that texting is more of an balancing act. Even though this dialect is slowly creeping into school essays, Crystal believes that textspeak will not have an impact. He believes that when the restrictions are dropped, there would be no need to write in abbreviations. Hence, both of them think that textspeak is simply a new form of language that has evolved to suit technological needs and will not have a significant impact on language.

Letter to the editor

Cultural appropriation of black people

Ben Forster

27th July, 2013

Dear Dodai,
I am writing to you in regard to the article you recently published titled ‘On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing With Black People’. After reading this article, it got to me that Miley is just trying too be ‘cool’. Now, that is perfectly fine, but as you said, it isn’t acceptable that she is trying to replicate black people. She is trying to culturally appropriate ‘black culture’.

In the video you wrote about, Miley is seen doing everything she can to show that she is from the ‘hood’. She is seen twerking with black women, which is as we understand just an act to try to get 'street cred’.

But I have to disagree with the part where you pointed out that white women are put in the centre, whereas black women are put off at the side. Maybe the directors thought that it looked better. It in no way shows that the black women are in service to her. All I’m trying to say here is it might not have been intentional.

You also brought up the popularisation of the ‘Ghetto’ culture over the past decade, which may have influenced the nature of her video. Before, being ghetto was looked down upon, as were black people. But soon, it just became the next cool thing! Everyone now talks about being ‘ghetto fabulous’ and white rappers like Macklemore now wear gold gold nameplates and necklaces, which is a part of black culture. This is very harmful and offensive, as the black community couldn’t do anything about it.

The analogy you made that compared Miley Cyrus trying to be from the hood and of dressing up kids as if they were homeless during Halloween also struck me. Miley Cyrus and her team  need to keep in mind how the blacks, whose culture they have appropriated, are suffering. They are born in an environment where people are underprivileged, undereducated, oppressed, underrepresented, disenfranchised, systemically discriminated against and struggling in a system set up to insure that they fail. Todays artists have to be mindful, when they are trying to replicate another culture such as the black, hip-hop ghetto culture. As you have said ,”… blackness is not a piece of jewelry you can slip on when you want a confidence booster or a cool look. And playing at being poor — while earning a profit by doing so — is just distasteful.”

Yours sincerely,
Ben Forster

The article can be found at:"On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing With ..."