According to IMDB.com the concept of this series has been done at least twice before.  Once as a film in 1991, based on a true story, and again in 1999 in a made for TV production.

Switched at Birth

This current take introduces the families when the girls are teenagers.  Bay (Vanessa Marano) is raised in the wealthy Kennish family (D.W. Moffitt and Lea Thompson) alongside a brother (Lucas Grabeel), while  Daphne Vasquez is raised on the other side of the tracks by a single mother (Constance Marie).

I have now watched the first three episodes.  I like it, but I am having a hard time with the arrogance of the Kennish family.  All of their actions are motivated by their own desires.  For example, both Kathryn and John Kennish have made a case for adjusting Daphne in some way that will allow her to be able to hear, because she is deaf.  Although she reads lips, does sign language, and also speaks as she signs, they have encouraged her to augment herself instead of them trying to learn her language.  Although that was finally addressed in this week’s episode and I think they did a good job with it.

Another example is the daughter, Bay Kennish, who has decided she has to find her biological father.  Her biological mother, Regina Vasquez, has asked her to drop the issue because of the personal pain, but she’s going full steam ahead regardless.  And although I understand her need to know both parents, the show has not done a good job of having her get to know her mother yet.  We have seen minimal time of the two of them getting to know each other, and yet it’s now an imperative for Bay to find her father.  It is annoying and insensitive.

Switched at Birth is a really fascinating study of class.  Even with its minor irritations, I want to know how these characters are going to develop, and would love to do an in-depth paper in the future.

Whether we want to believe it or not media affects people of all age groups.  The Weiner fiasco only confirms this in my opinion.  The thing that most amazes me about this incident is that he actually thought he would not get caught.  He believed that he could send content through a digital medium and not have anyone know it was him.  Does he not know that the digital medium is made to indefinitely house content ?  And where content is maintained, authorship information follows.

It’s not as if there hasn’t been precedence…Detroit…Mayor…Texts.  It’s either arrogance or ignorance, although most likely it’s a combination of the two.

It was the device used to get into the story.  First, why would they ever invite Alan to another party?  The guy drugs you AND you don’t like him, but somehow you are coerced into inviting him to your bachelor party?   I understand that Zack Galifianakis had to be there.  His character brings a lot of the funny, but I would have appreciated a more creative device in getting there.  Simply being shamed into doing it didn’t seem reasonable.  But you have to understand, the advice I most remember from my mother is “guilt is a useless emotion.”

So, okay.  Alan attends the wedding.  How do these guys ever trust anything from him again?  And particularly because Bradley Cooper’s character made a point of throwing away Alan’s marshmellows before their first beer.  Yet he then somehow forgot his skepticism?  I didn’t buy it.

The majority of the treatments required applying creams that had a number of chemicals that I didn’t feel totally comfortable putting on my baby’s bottom, so I reached out to my community of tangible mothers.  One friend suggested that I try scorched flour.  I had absolutely no idea what this meant and at first I wasn’t sure I wanted to understand…it seemed like some wives’ tale.  But I decided to try it, so I Googled it and found the necessary instructions.

Within 3 days the diaper rash was healed.  Below are the instructions from eHow.com:

1) Preheat a heavy skillet on the stove top on medium heat for two to three minutes.

Scorched Flour

2) Put 1/2 cup of all purpose flour in the skillet and stir around with a spatula until the flour begins to burn and takes on a tan color. This will usually take three or four minutes.

3) Remove the skillet from the stove after the flour has browned sufficiently and allow to cool. The scorching of the flour can also be performed by placing a layer of flour in a baking pan and putting the pan under the broiler. Watch this carefully and stir the flour every few minutes until it reaches the desired color.

4) Place the scorched flour into a sandwich bag after allowing it to cool.

5) Pat the scorched flour onto baby’s dry bottom at each diaper change. The continued use of the flour on your baby’s diaper rash aids in healing because the flour creates an alkaline environment. This prevents the diaper rash from worsening and allows it to heal.

Beauty

One of the main components of the current technology age is the concept of a participatory culture.  As opposed to decades past where we just received information from the television, radio, or newspaper, the Internet has allowed us to also respond in kind.  In this way we are able to create a sense of connection and community with those things we both love and loathe from the comfort of our couch.

Before the Internet, community was created by interacting with people you met face to face.  They were your neighbors, co-workers, and family.  Recently I had the opportunity to witness my community in action.  I had a child.  There is nothing as beautiful and sacred as giving birth and raising children, but equally there is nothing as daunting either.  In fact it is downright scary when you realize that it is your sole responsibility to make sure this kid gets a solid foundation for whatever path they choose in life.

So you can imagine how surprised I was when I realized the truth, it is not my sole responsibility.  Since I had been lucky enough to create a community of real, tangible friends and family I immediately had a group of people actively invested in my child’s solid foundation.  How beautiful is that?  Some of these people  I’ve known for a lifetime while others came along in the middle of this adventure, but they all came providing love and support.

Not every new parent experiences this kind of support.  And without that community of genuine friends and family to encourage you it can be a lonely and discouraging process.  Couple that with the many impersonal institutions that you have to deal with when raising kids – hospitals, government, insurance companies, etc. – and your parental stress level goes through the roof.

That is why it is important to create a space for parents to interact and support each other.  A place where they can be relaxed and ask each other questions.  A way that those who do not have a built in community can join one.  It is imperative that we, meaning Americans, place a higher value on the role of parenthood and not just with lip service.  It is the same as with our educators.  Both parents and teachers mold young minds and prepare them for future leadership, without our support the country fails.

I found it fascinating that the story did not pick up steam in other media outlets.  Although it could be perceived as a gimmick, I felt that it was worthy of conversation because this young lady was saying to a member of our governing elite that you should in fact be held to a high standard.  It is unfortunate that it is focused on women in politics.  Ignorant statements abound from congressmen of both genders.  Yet I am proud that this young lady is willing to stand up and say this is not right, it is irresponsible, and I am willing to put my money where my mouth is.  Let the debate begin!

These films always pull me in.  I can watch them over and over again, and except for Frodo Baggins – thank God for Samwise Gumgee – I love all of the characters.

Yet, as much as I enjoy the series there’s always one thing that catches my attention.  Why are there absolutely no people of color?  And I don’t mean that in a call the NAACP kind of way, I’m really curious as to the line of thought involved.  Isn’t it harder to NOT employ people of color when you have such a massive project?

It is entirely possible that many of the Orcs and other horrible creatures were of color, but there were hundreds of extras fighting on the side of Good…and none of them could be of color?  What difference would it have made to the story to have men of Rohan, Morder, or the Elf kingdom be of color?  No conversation or explanation would be needed, they would just be a part of the atmosphere.  It seems to me that you have to make a conscious decision to have absolutely no people of color on screen in such an epic, and I just wonder why in 2010 it’s still such an obvious omission.

The filmmakers did a fantastic job of creating a dramatic narrative that was not overly dramatic.  There are no cat fights, or extraordinarily duplicitous behavior.  Instead they were average people making life choices.

There are two characters considered antagonists: Marcus played by Eric Dane, better known as McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy, and Kristin Bell’s Nikki.

Although there behavior was not perfect, especially if you are rooting for the protagonists, it also was not over the top.  Marcus was a businessman who made a fair offer and who had his own real estate plans in mind.  As the viewer you may not like them, but I did not feel like his actions were malicious.  Nikki on the other hand did behave with malice, but her actions were a direct result of her alcoholism and insecurity.  And although not acceptable, it was never life, limb, or financially threatening.  That is why I consider the film a drama, but not overly dramatic.

As a media literacy educator I have to consider the 6 key questions: 1) What’s the purpose?; 2) What’s the message?; 3) Who is the target audience?; 4) What techniques were used to advance the story?; 5) What was left out?; and 6) Who created the product?

1. The purpose is usually defined as persuading, informational, or entertainment.  Burlesque was definitely created to entertain.  Although there was at least one blatant use of product placement of Famous Amos cookies.  You could say that there was an intent to persuade viewers to purchase the cookies…or at least remind them of their existence.  It worked on us.  As soon as we left the theater my film companion suggested picking up a box.  Just writing that last sentence made me get up and grab another handful.

2. The answer to this question is often subjective depending on what baggage the viewer brings to the table, but I connected to the theme of loyalty and looking out for those you care about.  I also clearly saw the statement about the benefits of pursing what you are passionate about.  In my opinion this was not conveyed in a fly by night manner, although things did move pretty fast for our leading lady.  Through several montage sequences the filmmaker demonstrated Aguilera’s Ali going through the strenuous process necessary to become an expert at what you do.  She is seen reading up on burlesque history, memorizing the dances while waiting tables, practicing while walking the streets of LA, etc.  It is a reminder that to become the best at what you do, commitment and practice are a requirement, and that is an important statement for young people to receive in today’s culture where we all seem to want immediate gratification.

3. The target audience include fans of both Aguilera and Cher, people who love music and/or burlesque, and women.  The film features several great musical numbers, including two by Cher that were just fantastic.  You get an insight into a view of burlesque, although it was much grander than any of the burlesque shows I’ve attended.  And although the film had great eye candy for men and women alike, it wasn’t overly sexual.  Even with the dancing, which I found more sexy than sexual, excluding one short number helmed beautifully by Alan Cumming.  The sex scenes were not gratuitous or overt.

4. The primary techniques were of course the two stars, Cher and Aguilera, and their voices.  There was also the fact that almost every face in the film was beautiful.  And lastly there were a good amount of musical numbers, so if you came because you were drawn in by two musical performers, you were not let down.  The story, although enjoyable, was a support to the music.

5. The film left out exactly how hard it can be to “arrive”.  The character of Ali has one major traumatic experience, but basically through focus, determination, and persistence she gets her lucky break pretty quickly.  The thing is everybody’s story is different.  Some people do get their break that quickly, but many, many others do not.  Also left out was a lot of Ali’s backstory.  We got a glimpse into it, but not enough to explain how she became a person that would leave it all and head for the glitz and glitter of Hollywood.  Yet, even as that is the case, I don’t think it was necessary to make the film any stronger.

6. The film was directed by Steve Antin – writer, producer, and actor – Burlesque is only his second feature film.  Burlesque was distributed by Sony / Screen Gems with a $55 million production budget.

Connie Sellecca, William Katt, Robert Culp

Recently I re-visited the 1981-1986 television program Greatest American Hero.  It starred William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Sellecca.  As soon as the show came on and I heard the opening theme song I was immediately brought back to moments in my youth when all of my friends were singing that crazy song.  “Believe it or not, I’m walking on air.  I never thought I could be so fre-e-e…”

This morning I found myself waking up from a dream in which that song was playing in my head and everyone around me was singing, laughing, and reminiscing about the campy style of the show.

It got me to thinking about national identity and how it may or may not be impacted by the increase in the options media offer.  When this show aired, cable already existed and people had access to MTV and other channels, but it wasn’t as prevalent as it is today.  Many of Americans were still getting their primary diet from the major broadcast stations, including NBC, ABC, and CBS.

So if you have a large number of citizens with a smaller pool of entertainment from which to choose, a greater proportion of them are going to watch the same program.  This in turn creates a connection between those individuals across racial, gender, and class boundaries.  They are now tied, albeit loosely, by this commonality.

What happens when the entertainment choices increase exponentially and people can find content based on very narrow interests?  How does that affect their ability to connect?

This presupposes that media has an impact on people, their views, and their actions.  As a media literacy educator, I of course believe that to be true.