Star Wars and America

To me, Star Wars and America was a very difficult reading. It was boring and I felt like I was being punished. (Sorry to those who picked this!) I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve never seen Star Wars, but after reading this I definitely have no desire to watch it. I felt like the writer basically summarized the entire movie into 2 pages and read too much into the film.

Deciphering I, Robot: Random thoughts from an evolving film reviewer

Not being a huge fan of sci-fi/fantasy films, and not seeing I, Robot, this reading wasn’t very interesting to me. What I did find a little interesting was how fascinated the writer gets about such movies. Even watching and thinking about movies for the past 12 years and still learning so much everyday and every time a new type of technology is invented, seems like an exciting job. The passion he has for every review he does is phenomenal. However, I can’t imagine getting ready to watch a movie in a theater and having to pay attention to so many elements, such as the writing, the music, lighting, camera angles, performances, film stock, effects, editing, etc. Being able to take note of all of that and still comprehend and enjoy a movie is very talented in my books.

The Sport taboo and Censoring Myself

In “The Sports Taboo,” I found it really interesting when the author said “The assumption is that the whole project of trying to get us to treat each other the same will be undermined if we don’t agree that under the skin we actually are the same.” I understand what he is trying to say, but how can we actually say we are all the same under the skin if records prove that black people and white people have different skills when it comes to sports? Is it all in our head? Do black people only run faster because they feel like they have to in order to keep their status quo? I don’t believe that is true, but some people might. I think different races are completely different in every way, sports included. All races have different specialties, and that’s just something all athletes need to accept.
“Censoring Myself” to me was a little bit difficult to read. I found it a little boring because I couldn’t really relate to it.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria

In “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria,” I felt like I could relate my childhood and adolescent stage to the reading. When I was in middle school I definitely caught on to the different racial cliques around me. It always seemed normal and the way things should be, because that’s how I learned. When I reached high school, one of the best friends I ever had was black. We had so much fun together and really enjoyed each other’s company. I never would have thought I would have a best friend who is black. I’m not racist, but our lifestyles were completely different. Our way of thinking, the way we spoke, and even the clothes we wore were diverse. But that didn’t stop us from being good friends, we accepted each other for who we were and didn’t try to change one another. But I can completely understand what the author says about blacks and whites because I’ve experienced it in school. In the cafeteria I would sit with all of my white friends, and the black people would sit with their black friends. That’s just the way things were and still are today. I don’t believe that will ever change.

Race and ethnicity

I thought this chapter was very interesting because it talked about race and ethnicity but didn't stereotype different nationalities in an offensive matter. The first thing that caught my eye was a sentence on the first page "Scientists believe that race is a social and not biological." I thought that was very interesting because it sounds so true. As i grew up and hung out with different nationalities or groups i found a change in the way i thought about things or how i handled situations accordingly. I felt like i had different characteristics when i was with different people. I didn't mean to get like that, but sometimes peoples personalities rub off on others without people even noticing.

Reading and writing about television

When i first started reading this chapter, the concept of every type of text being in our hands was a little bit confusing. I understood that anything being written or anything we read is considered a text, but i didn't really think about television being considered a text. I always thought of television as entertainment or a getaway from reality. It was interesting to read how the structure of television encourages passive viewing. The most intriguing paragraph i read in this chapter was "The audience pays for its free television." When i used to watch TV, i always wondered how the characters, authors, producers, etc make so much money. Learning that the advertisers pay for the commercials and then in turn choose which shows to broadcast was really interesting. Its funny how they know which commercials to play for the target audience, knowing that the ads gets passed on to us when we purchase items seen in the commercials.

How I got my name

Before my mother gave birth to me, her plan was to name me Danielle. Since she decided my siblings names, Chris, Brittany, and Jessica, my father didn't mind. However, the plans changed the morning she was giving birth to me. The umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and i almost did not make it. As the doctors saved me and my dad got a glance at his newborn, he knew he wanted to name me Dominique. I remember my mother always telling me that when the doctor put me into his arms he instantly knew that I was not going to be a Danielle. It is a very unique and different name and i absolutely love it.