Pranking on Halloween

With Halloween approaching, I find myself thinking about previous Halloweens back home.  My neighbors stopped handing out candy when their kids decided they were too old for trick-or-treating, so they always turn out the lights on Halloween night.  Thus, their house has become Prank Central.  Something happens to their house pretty much every Halloween now.   

           

Last year, a few neighborhood kids decided to get some kicks by egging one of my neighbor’s cars and completely covering a tree in their front yard with toilet paper.  They also knocked over the street sign and the stop sign near their house.  Additionally, there were several broken beer bottles scattered along the street. 

I wonder what provoked them into action and if they’ll decide to do it again.  They must think that their actions are justified because my neighbors do not hand out candy.  With the addition of alcohol and the incentive of groupthink, they become more and more likely to lash out violently.  Plus, pranking is a tradition of Halloween.  The house stands out as the one that refused to observe candy hand-out.  That makes their house a viable target for retaliation, one that groupthink, alcohol, and tradition can justify. 

I guess my neighbors need to learn to pass out Halloween candy!   

THE EVENT

I have been watching a new show on NBC called The Event.  After glancing through the reading for next week, I found that the program definitely has some relevance to the discussion on African Americans and other minorities in television programming.

In the show, the President of the United States is African American and the the son of a native Cuban.  He seeks to close down a prison facility (in the show, the facility seems to house aliens) and free the inhabitants, much like Obama’s efforts with Guantanamo Bay.  The show is a prime example of a new change in characters by the media involving African Americans.  In order to reflect the political direction of our country, fictional presidents in television are portrayed as being black.  This trend is also evident in the now cancelled show, Heroes.  In the recent past, however, presidents were almost always white males; Harrison Ford in Air Force One and Bill Pullman in Independence Day come to mind.  Now, however, casting a white male in the role of president would not be in line with current trends and could indeed be considered an insult.

President’s Obama’s leadership has definitely made a difference in television programming.  I wonder if the president in new shows would have been a female had Hillary Clinton won the presidency.  It would have been interesting to see Glenn Close as president instead of Harrison Ford.

Copycat Reflection

It was enlightening to see the copycat effect of the movies on an actual screen instead of just reading about it.  I found myself struck by the gore in the movie version and horrified that someone could be sick enough to repeat those heinous acts in real life.  The case that alarmed me the most was that of a sixteen-year-old boy who decided to kill his mother for the money to buy masks and start a killing spree.  One guy said that he would do whatever he saw in the movies, including slicing open someone’s chest.  And then, of course, there were the Honeymoon Killers who killed their new partners for the life insurance payment. 

One thing that seemed to be useful with these copycat killer crimes was that police could recognize the similarities between the movie murders and the actual killings.  Yet, these copycat crimes were extremely violent and sickening.  I watch very few graphic movies because the blood and gore freak me out, but the ones I have seen horrify me.  It is sickening to think that people could be inspired by movies like Saw.

However, I don’t think we can deprive the public of these movies.  Some movies that can inspire violent acts may also have positive effects.  In the reading, one woman who watched a movie where an abused wife killed her husband decided to perform the same act in real life, but many other women sought help as a result of viewing the movie. 

Thus, every movie, even violent ones, can produce different impacts depending on the person.  Some reactions might be positive, some negative.  We cannot cut out violent films entirely for fear of what some people will do, although perhaps we can limit the gory content.   

Lost because of LOST!

I was watching Lost on TV one day, and I decided that hiking looked fun.  The characters on the show were always walking off to some place or another in pursuit of food or another person or they were seeking a distant destination in the middle of the jungle.  Inspired, I submitted myself to my own quest.  I was going on a hike.  Not one of those little one or two-mile treks on one of those paved trails, but a legit hike; a hike to the middle of nowhere and back. 

When I shared the idea with my friends, they were all too enthusiastic to join in being Lost fans themselves.  So, we decided we’d take a weekend and go on a seven-mile hike.  It was not too far, we reasoned.  We would not even have to make a camp on our first excursion. 

Yet, when we got there arrived at our destination, we found ourselves utterly unprepared.  Our brand new hiking boots bit into our heels.  We had not applied nearly enough mosquito spray.  Our legs trembled after four miles.  Plus, we hadn’t brought an adequate supply of water.  I am sure that our experience was far from a global phenomenon, but media’s glamorizing of Kate, often accompanied by the two hunks of the show, Jack and Sawyer, definitely hoodwinked us.  Without the distraction of two competing, utterly gorgeous guys, we were “lost.” 

Increased Police Patrols During Homecoming Weekend

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Harrisonburg_Police_Increase_Patrols_for_Homecoming_Weekend_104899604.html

The Harrisonburg police have announced that they are going to increase their patrols this homecoming weekend in an effort to deter those drinkers who may decide to have a little too much fun.  Will this announcement discourage students from going out to party?  Maybe some students will stay in, especially since patrols have already been so stringent this year.  However, the majority of JMU students who were already planning to go out partying will not be deterred.  A media announcement would be unlikely to trigger a mass curtailment of parties.  The opinions of peers would be much more effective in changing behavior.  If someone’s friends are afraid of going out because of the dangers of getting caught, that would definitely be more of a deterrent than a distant announcement.  Personal stories from friends who have been caught participating in underage drinking would also be a valuable restraint. 

Basically, I think announcing that there will be more police on patrols is largely useless.  Students have to see this increased coverage for themselves before they will believe it. 

Honestly, I think that the most valuable deterrent to students going out this weekend will be the weather.  If it’s cold and windy, that will keep at least some students indoors. 

Bandwagon Trickery

Often when I think of biased information in the news, my immediate reaction is to blame the news media entirely.  Yet, the discussion on cognitive biases, the Bandwagon effect, confirmation bias, base rate fallacy, and cognitive dissonance remind me that bias in the media has two sides: the media itself and us as viewers and consumers.  Besides hungering for the sensational stories about death and sex, we hold innate biases which also affect the presentation of the news.  Reporters have to carefully shape stories that comply with the public’s internalized biases.  For example, I became a victim of the Bandwagon effect when we conducted an experiment in my psychology class.  After walking around the school, one girl confidently proclaimed that the flag was positioned at half-staff while another less persuasive boy contended that it had risen to full-staff.  Most of us joined the bandwagon and declared that we too had seen the flag and that it was flying at half-mast, even though it was actually flying at full-mast.  Until the teacher weighed in, we remained convinced that we were right, especially since there were so many people supporting each other.  Thus, this reaction is a good example of the Bandwagon effect.

The Department of Information concept freaked me out.  In no way, shape, or form should our government have anything to do with feeding us filtered information.  The most disturbing idea was that the government would be able to declare selected information as fact or fiction.  With the highly politicized and polarized government that we have today, this action would be a death sentence.  The government in power would never allow any information into fact that portrays the current system in a negative light.  It is significant that the three countries utilizing the department are North Korea, China, and Iran.  The fact that these particular countries with restrictive societies use this form of control to deliver information provides evidence that such a department is a disturbing and frightening idea. Sure, there may be biases in the information we read and hear today, but at least we can pick and choose our sources.  Having one source categorize fact paves the way for more bias all slanted in one direction.

Jaycee Dugard

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20018486-504083.html

Last week we were talking about how high profile cases, such as the Ramsey case and Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping, frequently lose appeal to the public as time passes.  A more recent example is the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping case, which has lost its prominence in the media. 

Held by Nancy and Philip Garrido, Dugard and the children that she later bore after Garrido raped her were not discovered by police for about twenty years.  Although parole officers visited Garrido, who had been convicted of a 1977 rape and kidnapping, the Garridos were able to keep Dugard hidden in their backyard. 

The media and public became fixated on the case after Dugard was found.  Her face dominated the Internet and the news, and the public always seemed to be hungry for updates.  However, fewer networks now cover the story.  It is difficult to find a prominent news source with current information.

After searching for a while, I discovered an article on CBS News that offered an update on the case.  The Garridos have been indicted on eighteen counts plus many special allegations, which will allow Dugard and her family to avoid testifying in open court for the time being.  Nancy Garrido has already pleaded not guilty, but the court awaits a mental competency evaluation for Philip Garrido before accepting his plea.  Additionally, Dugard is writing a memoir that will cover the events from her abduction to present day. 

It was interesting to see how the case has evolved.  The last time I remember hearing about Dugard, she had recently been found and the media had begun hyping that she had borne children with her kidnapper.  When the public grew tired of the repetitiveness and lack of twists in the case following Dugard’s initial recovery, the story faded out of the limelight. 

Whale Rider

Last Wednesday, I watched the movie entitled Whale Rider.  When I first learned of the film, I had no idea that it would make me cry.  In fact, I thought it was probably one of those documentary type films.  Instead, it was not only a beautiful film with impressive actors and actresses—most stunning of which was the young lead, Keisha Castle-Hughes—but it also provided an enlightening portrait of a young girl overcoming gender limitations.

The birth of Pai and her brother reveals an overt gender divide. When Pai’s mother and her twin brother die, her grandfather, Koro, sees her as worthless.  His condemnation continues throughout the film despite Pai’s obvious gifts.  She seems to exhibit the perfect aptitude to be the leader of the tribe, yet he only reacts with anger and blame.  I found myself crying along with Pai when her grandfather fails to appear at her concert.  The audience has no choice but to hope along with Pai for any hint of her grandfather’s acceptance.  It is only when Pai nearly drowns after her success in riding the whale back into the ocean that Koro accepts her as the future leader of the tribe. 

The movie relates to class in that it publicizes the true plight of many women around the world, not just the women in Pai’s specific tribe.  It shows that even movies that entertain can sometimes communicate greater meanings and be used to advertise injustices to the viewing public.

Watching this touching film was truly a treat.  I cannot wait to attend another one in the future!