"Masai: The Rain Warriors" film review

The following is a review written for the film "Masai: The Rain Warriors" as submitted to alibris.com and as posted on my Indigeny and Energetics blog (http://indigeny-energetics.blogspot.com)

""Masai: The Rain Warriors" is a beautifully, sensitively shot and rendered film that seems to have its feet firmly and fluidly grounded in the warm red earth of Kenya. All too often, when a film produced in Europe or North America about Africa or indigenous people reveals itself on screen, it exposes so much of the patronizing nature of the dominant political and cultural colonial discourse, telling more a story about the teller than the subject. The lens of "Masai" at once becomes the viewpoint of the Masai themselves, showing their challenging and tender, intimate indigenous life in the context of being the subject of deep consideration and not the object of brash, patronizing scrutiny for the sake of assuaging neo-colonial guilt (e.g., "Dances with Wolves") or for mere financial gain (e.g., "Avatar").

This look into the life of the Masai is refreshing, empowering and informative, enabling the viewer to genuinely feel as if they have "been there" for a time and had a common experience, if only through a cinematic window. There is much of the indigenous experience of life that is illuminated AND validated here, not held up for narrative and audience ridicule in conflicting cultural statements (done very well in "Avatar").



The story is simple, compelling, ultimately human and spiritually-inspired. The journey of the young warriors at the behest of their wise elders is a powerful connection to the legacy of respect for those who have earned life's tenure on this earth. It is immediately heart-warming to see youth not only carry their traditional culture with genuine and functional passion, but to also acknowledge deeply their elders AND their youngers, seen so beautifully in a ritual scene before they head out into the savannah to hunt down Vitchua, the uber-lion that embodies their supreme god. The path of these warriors is marked well by a masculine sensitivity unconventional only to modern colonial (this includes the USAmerica!) and colonized mindsets.



In addition to this newly empowering, though antique, way of being and becoming men, the positive story of womanhood and femininity is also embedded in the dreamy awakening of one of the lead warriors' into the troupe's desert salvation. The confirmation of the wise woman healer and her importance to the life of not only the village, but our world, enlivening the divine feminine in real-time, is very entrenched in this film.

"Masai" is an important cultural statement. Though we are still in need of validating and distributing widely the stories of indigeny by indigenous people in a modern world that does not yet remember itself and see itself as the progeny OF indigeny, "Masai" is a tactile and real expression of a part of the indigenous experience that is not only enlightening, but entertaining and emotionally moving. This is a good story told well about a subject often not represented with compassion and clarity.

Expect to have a cinematic experience that deepens understanding of the human experience. We need more of that."

That 70's Show: The Cultural Horror Show That Is Fez

(from "Cultural Bias in Prime Time Television", pg. 151)

Fez, played by Wilmer Valderrama, was the program’s infantilized, hypersexual ethnic Other, cute in his playfulness and socio-cultural ignorance, much like a three year old who said the word “tittie” for the first time - every day. Fez, like that three year old, might have engendered laughter, but Fez was not funny.

The program samples included an episode that provided a rare look into the shallow waters of Fez’s world, safe for viewers to walk through without fear of learning something new about the world or at least that of this one character. The episode trundled through each musical vignette laboriously and without any real passion, essentially a series of music videos all positioned to give exposition to another of Fez’s wants and desires as a young man from an undisclosed country who was constantly thinking about sex (or its absence) and candy. The episode seemed to be an unconscious display of the writers’ desire to keep Fez from achieving his innermost goals, whether as a young, lusty, Latin almost-lover (given, also a stereotype, but a more self-assured one) that he might have been or the emasculated, infantilized, de-nationalized clown that he really was.

The episode featured songs like The Joker (Steve Miller Band), Shake Your Groove Thing (Peaches and Herb), So Happy Together (The Turtles) and Sing (The Carpenters). The songs were performed as dream sequence production numbers with low-tech star wipes, smoke machines and shiny polyester outfits. The song vignettes were all dreams conjured by Fez as we waited impatiently for his “friends” to come to the school choral musical recital that he was a part of, presided over by 70’s rock idol Roger Daltrey, playing a pompous, brash, though also culturally unaware Brit music director, Mr. Wilkinson. Fez’s frustrations deepened as his “friends” failed to show while he waited before the recital, lapsing every so often into another musical rendition of what he thought the world should be like. Even Red exclaimed before Fez (and viewer) lapsed into another dream song, “Aw jeez, not another one!” (02/#6). Fez got to the point where he sincerely doubted his friendships, but turned it inward, calling himself a “goofy foreign kid” that no one wanted to be around (Program Sample 02/#6). Red, Eric’s father, gladly validated Fez’s feelings for him and was possibly the most egalitarian character on the program, never giving anybody a break, particularly his son or anyone seemingly not born in the United States of America or vociferously loyal to it.

Fez’s daydreams seemed to betray him as the physical performances were lackluster and the singing was poor. There was no hint of “sweetening” to raise the recorded quality of the vocals. None of the actors were accomplished or even fair singers to be performing as such. The pedestrian performances might have been produced to decrease the separation between skilled performer and presumably less skilled viewer. Fez was disappointed in his “friends” as the viewers may have been in the characters’ performance of the music segments. The story cut away at one point to find the gang smoking marijuana in Eric’s basement. They discussed how they didn’t want to go to the concert, completely dismissive of the idea that Fez would have any feelings about their actions. The program’s orientation to (or away from) Fez became apparent through the voice of Eric as they got caught up in their own pot-induced anti-Fez fervor. Each increased note of mockery was punctuated by a laugh track, the “OK sign” for viewer acceptance or dismissal of content, whichever came easier. Eric stated clearly in a close-up shot, saying, “That idiot actually thinks I’m his friend [Eric laughs]. Like I care. Iwish he were dead. [laugh track] Hey, we should kill him [louder laugh track]” (02/#6). No explanation or apology was ever made for their declarations against Fez, save for their excuse for their lateness - they were busy toilet-papering Wilkinson’s house and brought Fez his decapitated mailbox, presumably as a sign of their “friendship” and support for him. Wilkinson saw his mailbox in Fez’s hands, took it, aghast, and vowed a weak reprisal. The gang looked none too concerned, actually happy that they had “gotten him” in this way (which included a bag of dog excrement on his front steps and a symbol drawn on his door with some kind of cream or paste, interestingly enough - a peace sign).

Fez did at one point in this same episode strike a cord of nationalism and pride for the heretofore-unnamed country of his birth and its people. Wilkinson walked away from him after having leveled a barrage of insults and patronizing comments. Fez responded, “The British have always hated my people. We won the war, buddy. Get over it! Ah, good one, Fez. [laugh track]”. Fez, at least, got what he wanted - his “friends” with him at the concert. They did in fact go to the concert after all, but the ideological, socio-cultural and relational distance with which the narrative kept Fez from his “friends” was always there, too. Fez was allowed to share space with the “White Wisconsin Others”, but it seemed he could only get close to them in his cartoonish dreams.

The character of Fez was reminiscent of two of Willie Best’s characters, the “elevator boy’ Charlie” in My Little Margie and Willie in The Trouble with Father. Best, in the former “repeatedly bugged his eyes at the slightest provocation and looked stunned by the most ordinary of occurrences” (Bogle, 2001, p. 44). Bogle went on to say that “Best’s Charlie becomes delirious over the sight of the two [teen boy and girl] kissing good night. Widening his eyes, he goes into a romantic swoon. Apparently, he’s never experienced love himself nor known much about sexual desire (or fulfilling it)” (2001, p. 44). Bogle went on to say about Best in The Trouble with Father, “Again cast as a likable childlike dunce, he’s Willie, the family handyman, a nifty tagalong playmate for the family’s adolescent daughter Jackie. Mostly called upon to react and observe, he rarely initiates any action” (2001, p. 45). Much of this rang true for Fez. Fez was the consummate child, often swooning at the thought of candy or other ultimately simple things. This response could have been an expression of an immigrant’s stereotypical adoration for anything (United States of) American, an ideological frame of reference that would be easy to understand coming from a network like Fox, so deeply conglomerated and conservative in politics (Greenwald, 2004). Fez’s response was more likely the expression of a child. Fez was almost as enraptured by candy as he was for the prospect of sex. His simplistic reactions were the butt of the explicit and implicit joke. His dunce status was defined in every episode and his constant swoon and persistent, but contrived, lisp was always present to reinforce the consumption of his character as an ignorant child. If Fez walked on camera licking a gigantic lollipop and wearing knee pants, neither the audience nor the other characters would have thought anything of it.

Fez also showed his penchant for shallow, self-centered baby-isms when Wilkinson relegated him punitively to the back row during the recital, to which Fez retorted, “The back row is for the untalented and the ugly [laugh track]” (02/#6). Fez also stood his ground beforehand when Wilkinson tried to get Fez to understand the finer points of music appreciation. Wilkinson asked, “Have you ever been moved to tears by the warbling timbre of your own voice?”. Fez responded, “No - because I am a man! [laugh track]”, the laugh track almost bubbled over into a reserved, though macho cheer of support for his assertion of mainstream, narrow masculinity.

Fez, while at the school dance, was in the stairwell, along with three other couples, making out with a female dork stereotype. When word of the tornado warning reached them, Fez responded, “Oh no, I’m going to die a virgin!”. His partner expressed that it could be their last day on earth so they decided to “do it” and ran off to yet another stairwell. Word reached them later that the tornado warning had been lifted, though, before they got the chance to “do it”. His partner, then with a renewed sense of hope, snorted, chuckled and waddled off (literally) leaving Fez to tantrum before the Creator. Fez exclaimed, “Oh you can make a tornado, but you can’t make me do it! Oh you are not a just god!!” (02/#1).

The group’s flashback to their first meetings in the yearbook episode was telling of the characters’ and the programs relationship to this ethnic “Other” in the cast, the lone non-White token character for almost the whole run of the show. Fez was found hanging in a closet by his pants, preyed upon by cruel jocks. Kelso’s first response was to throw a gym ball at him. There was no major outcry to his treatment as the only “foreign exchange student” seemingly in all of Point Place or all of Wisconsin according to this program. Their empathy for Fez was underwhelming, all in the interest of the laugh track, ratings, repeat viewership and the bottom line. After they finally helped him down, Hyde asked him his name. Fez began to recite a litany of names (stereotypical and real for many Latinos/as), but as he did so, the school bell rang and obscured the viewer from hearing his name. Hyde responded, “I’m never gonna remember that”. It was not apparent whether Hyde heard the name or not, but it was apparent that he didn’t care to know his name or anything else about him.

The message was clear in all of the occurrences of Fez on screen that what was foreign was unwelcome in that world. Difference would not be tolerated and would be submerged for the greater ignorance of the self-centered (read ethnocentric) community. Fez was the butt of jokes from others and his own self-condemnation. He was the target of marijuana-induced assertions of hatred by people he called “friends”. He was neglected and disrespected off-hand. Intolerance of difference, of a different culture, a different national origin, was accepted wholesale by the characters and by the program itself. Fez might have been the best example of the worst that That 70’s Show had to offer teenage aspirational viewers looking for cues regarding how they should act and fit in - or allow others to fit in - or not - in this society.

That 70's Show: Alcohol and Youth

(from "Cultural Bias in Prime Time Television", pg. 143)

That 70’s Show/FOX

Brooks and Marsh (1999) presented That 70’s Show in the following way:

“Set in rural Point Place, Wisconsin, in 1976, this bright sitcom lampooned the activities of high school junior Eric Foreman and his friends during the height of the disco era. The other featured teens were Donna, the sexy redhead who lived next door and was sweet on Eric; hunky Kelso, who was incredibly naive and gullible; Jackie, Kelso’s spoiled girlfriend; Hyde, a counter-culture conspiracy theorist; and Fez, a wide-eyed foreign exchange student. Signs of the times were everywhere: leisure suits, platform shoes, acid rock, long hair, and streaking.Eric’s mother, Kitty, was a slightly flighty nurse, and his dad, Red, had recently been reduced to part-time work at the plant. His sister, Laurie, was a college freshman who, in February, was flunking out of the University of Wisconsin. Donna’s pudgy, gross father, Bob, owned an appliance store and hired Red to work for him over the Christmas holidays. Much of the action took place in the Foreman basement, where the kids hung out.” (p. 1014)

Mediascope (2004) described the program with a little more candor and mentioned a regular risk behavior element:

“Set amid the fads and culture of the 1970s (an era many teens today find hilariously funny), this half-hour sitcom’s treatment of universal teenage issues has made it extremely popular for both males and females. The show follows the lives of an eclectic group of teenage friends as they deal with the challenges of growing up, smoking pot, and seeking independence from their often clueless parents.” (p. iii)

Mediascope (2004) went on to say about the depiction of marijuana use in a particular episode not sampled in this study:

“The third reference [to substance abuse] was more substantive, and occurred in an episode of That ‘70’s Show, a series with a reputation for its frequent portrayal of implied marijuana use among teen and college-age characters. The show often portrays the kids acting goofy and stoned with lots of smoke in the air-they aren’t actually shown smoking, but it is clear from our observations that the teen audience members “know” what’s going on...The pot use is not glamorized, but neither are any anti-use statements made or negative effects portrayed; the absence of condemnation makes pot smoking seem normal and acceptable.” (p. 168)

Alcohol usage was also a major, regular element of the program’s narratives, supported by research and episodes viewed outside of this study. Program sample analysis revealed no scenes depicting alcohol consumption. The use of alcohol or other drugs was not a primary cultural analytical parameter, but was important enough to report on due to its cultural use in United States of American society by teenagers and its use as a cultural rite of passage for so many teenagers across the country, across class, culture/race and gender (Myers, 1993). Mediascope provided continued information on this element within the narratives of That 70’s Show and reported the following:

“The most problematic from the standpoint of those who would wish to discourage [underage] drinking occurs in That ‘70’s Show, in which the teens of the house and their friends organize a “kegger” in their basement hangout. The kids drink beer and the party is fun. Moreover, when the father, Red, comes down to the party and sees the drinking, he only mutters a fatalistic, “Oh, well, “ in effect shrugging it off.” (2004, p. 169)

This might have been enough perspective on the issue, but Mediascope went on to describe a deeper presence and acceptance of alcohol usage in the show’s narratives:

“It is important to note that alcohol is central to the lives of both Red and his wife, Kitty. In another episode, Red celebrates the time when he and Kitty go together by mixing Manhattans for the two of them (Kitty had been drunk on Manhattans when they met). The overall picture painted by these two episodes (and many others in the series) is that alcohol is a central, enjoyable part of life, and that it carries, at most, the negative effect of a hangover the next day.” (2004, p. 169)

Mediascope’s report was troubling enough as a depiction of a regular and risky behavior in a prime time television show popular with teenagers with aspirational viewing habits. Deeper insight into the relationship between this show’s continued narrative and substance use/abuse came with the observation of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth study (2004) from which the list of programs was found for this study. The CAMY study identified That 70’s Show as the program of the “disproportionate six” that showed the greatest amount of advertisements for alcoholic beverages (2004, p. 7). The only show of the fifteen cited in the study that had more alcohol ads was Fear Factor. The data was clear, though, circumstantial, evidence that, indeed and in deed, the influence of the advertiser was at work in a pernicious and integral way in the narratives of this particular prime time program, a pattern reported by Johnston (2000). This relationship, illuminated by research and practical program analysis, was a negative one when the socio-cultural result was hypothesized.

Cultural Media Literacy

(from "Cultural Bias in Prime Time Television and Teenage Viewers: Cultural Media Literacy for High School and Higher Education", pg.196)

Cultural Media Literacy, a development borne of this study, was an important and necessary advancement in the growth of general media literacy education, research and organization. While most media literacy focused adequately on the dynamics of medium production and distribution, how it worked visually, graphically and/or sonically and possible effects in society (Strasburger & Wilson, 2002), these efforts did not show a marked trend toward deeper discussion of particular social issues as a whole. All of the aforementioned organizations and efforts were spectacular undertakings and deserve to be supported and grown. The discourse must have at some point advanced more deeply into the core of the social dynamic, the people themselves. That core was the source or container of the conflict and/or challenge in values and dominant life practice around which the discussion about media and television revolved. That human core was the locus of hope for the ultimate growth in positive human development.

Cultural Media Literacy sought to advance the discussion of television in
particular and mass communications media in general as a serious motive social force, but also to raise issue with the society’s grasp of its own negative and positive tendencies, to help redefine and broaden its understanding of itself and its pattern of cultural consumption and production. The media, the empty television stations, dark movie theaters or unlit fiber-optic internet cables were not the criminals, but the ways in which they had been manipulated by some people and consumed and used by so many more could have been considered as such. The hammer was not responsible for whether it was used as a tool for construction of home or a weapon of destruction of life, so the media in general and television in particular were also powerful, desirable tools of constructive change and transformation, almost innocent by themselves until imbued with the higher intentions of the creator and consumer alike.

Cultural Media Literacy defined conventional media literacy issues and elements as important, but only a part of the larger discussion that must happen with regard to mass communications in any society. Aside from the deleterious, anti-social forces and consequences of corporate media conglomeration, within Cultural Media Literacy, the media were simply the carriers of the message and these messages are important to society’s ability to observe itself, analyze its tendencies, whether realistic or fantastic, fictional or non-fictional, and make functional, practical decisions, actions and changes in its forward motion through time. Without a substantive discussion about the actual elements that television could only raise issue about or narrow discourse on, any society would only have been spinning its wheels with regard to mentioning mass communications media, cultural issues and social responsibility and positive social development.

Cultural Media Literacy defined culture and society as an organic and embodied human force that was simply and gloriously a macrocosm of the dynamism of the individual human being. Just as the individual must have been able to have insight into its own reality, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, so must have society as a whole been able to look at itself and through informed observation and contemplative insight been able to lessen its pathologies and increase the effects of the best elements that it had to offer itself.

Cultural Media Literacy assumed that people cared enough about other people that we should have been actively and constantly engaged in each other’s development for the good of the society and each individual within it. This concept was essential for any conscious and active society to move forward, progressively and intelligently. The history of countless cultures pointed to the necessity of this one to, like them, make informed and conscious choices about its future, in the interest of those who would carry it forward. Teenagers were the beneficiaries of our greatest failures and achievements. They found information, crystal clear and deeply flawed on the millions of small screens lit by the culturally biased images given robust life in prime time television.

TV or not TV...

Here's just some of the skinny on the ol' cathode ray tube:

98% of United States of American homes have televisions. 1

TVs are on for an average of 7 hrs. and 40 mins. per day in each USA household 2

Children think the roles of secretary (79 per cent), boss (71 per cent), doctor (67 per cent) and police officer (53 per cent) on television are usually played by white people, while the roles of criminal (59 per cent) and maid or janitor (35 per cent) are usually played by African-Americans. 3

Teenagers and pre-teens with TVs in their bedroom are more likely to use drubs, smoke cigarettes, binge drink and have sex. 4

56% of 13-17 year-olds have TVs in their bedrooms 5

Says who?!

References:
1-Nielsen Media Research, 2000
2-Nielsen Media Research, 2000
3-Children Now, 1998
4-University of California, 2005
5-Gentile & Wash, 2002

Media Power Is In Your Hands!

Things WE can do to take control of our media culture:

FOR YOURSELF:
1.Consciously choose the media you engage with.
2.Be a critical and active viewer of media messages and images.
3.Question what you see (or what you don’t see) in the media.
4.Word of mouth.Add media issues and your opinions on them to everyday conversation.

WITH THE MEDIA INDUSTRY:
5.Learn about the structure and history of the media industry. Read: "Rich Media,Poor Democracy" by Robert McChesney, "The Media Monopoly" by Ben Bagdikian
6.Contact media industry executives and inform them of your opinions and dissatisfactions with their products.

WITH THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA:
7.Seek out independent films through festivals,stores,and theaters.
8.Support independent media with donations and advocacy.
9.Gather news from independent sources (Internet,Television,Radio).

WITH YOUR LOCAL MEDIA:
10.Use the Editorial/Opinion section of your local newspaper to voice your opinions and raise awareness.
11.Get involved at your local cable and/or radio station.
12.Join a media education list-serv or subscribe to E-newsletters to stay informed.

WITHIN YOUR COMMUNITY:
13.Start a youth video production program and get the projects aired on local cable access
14.Organize a media education week.
(See www.mediaed.org/events/articles/organizefor details.) 15.Hold a public screening of MEF videos and encourage discussion.
16.Advocate for and/or teach media literacy in your community or school.

WITH THE GOVERNMENT:
17.Contact local government officials about legislation focusing on media issues and reform.
18.VOTE with media issues in mind.
19.Support FCC regulations on the media industry.
20.Raise awareness about the importance of media reform for other social movements
(domestic violence,environmental degradation,etc.).


The preceding information was created by the Media Education Foundation and is available on their website. They produce amazing materials and I have used many of their videos in presentations and college classes.
Media Education Foundation can be reached at:
60 Masonic St., Northampton MA 01060
800.897.0089, 413.584.8500
www.mediaed.org

Cultural Media Literacy in a Democratically-Challenged Society

...built upon the voice of each individual. How is your voice heard? Corporate-controlled media does not speak in your interest.
The people of the United States of America are deep in the process of expressing and embodying their democratic tendencies. This country and its people have a long way to go in this respect. People everywhere are searching for their collective voice.

Democracy is a set of principles, organizational structures and collective behaviors. It is a dynamic process that behooves us to be conscious and fully informed and socially activated. We are challenged to find a predominant validation of consciousness, clear information or ethical social action within the abyss-mal caverns of television.

We are likewise challenged to find it within the structures of mainstream United States (of America) society. We constantly butt our heads against top-down thinking and trends at work, our schools as well as in our information sources like television. We are advertised as individualistic consumers as opposed to collective thinkers and creators - which is what democracy requires. So what then is the role of media in this society?

Cultural Media Literacy is a vital and underemphasized necessity in a world in which popular opinion and, therefore, action or inaction is influenced by ever more powerful corporate media conglomerates. How do we as media consumers come to understand the growing seriousness of this issue?

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1) Become aware of your tv watching habits.
- limit viewing to specific choices
2) Get information from a variety of sources.
- don't forget to READ!
3) View with a discriminating, critical eye AND ear.
- information isn't true just because it's on tv
4) Watch with friends and family and discuss after.
- collective experiences breed deeper understanding
5) Learn how tv messages/programs are constructed
- book a Cultural Media Literacy workshop TODAY! : )

Cultural Bias Lives in Prime Time Television!

...at least in June of 2006 when I completed my Master's Degree and my research paper:
"Cultural Bias in Prime Time Television and Teenage Viewers: Cultural Media Literacy for High School and Higher Education"

It is my contention that these biases have changed to some degree, but have stayed stable as a negative cultural presence in televisual communications.

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Years of observing content and characterization in television programming of all types, along with frequent and continuing academic study of television and other media, have brought me to understand that there are deep problems inherent in our TV watching behavior. Not only are some of the oldest stereotypes and relational behavior patterns still existent in the medium, but the ubiquity and pervasiveness of the media in general has increased also. Add continued negative portrayals with deeper incursion into the human experience and we have an equation that adds up to problems of social proportions.

Our society still struggles with challenges around culture and race, sex and gender issues. sexual orientation, ability and agism. In addition, our consciousness of environmental issues, democracy, health, water and food and other social issues is hampered by the dearth of substantive reporting and coverage of these important elements of human life.

If we did not still experience deep-seated problems with class, violence and intolerance, many of the television programs, stories and messages would be of little concern, but for their entertainment value. The reality of the cultural life of United States of American society behooves us to look more deeply and critically at the form and function of our most compelling medium of social communication - television, the king of all media.

Though the internet is increasingly becoming important for the mass consumption of moving image programming, the source of that product still resides in the television studios of the media conglomerates, now dwindling in number, but growing speedily in size....and social influence. I ask you to spend some time to look over the content of my research paper, consider my critique and findings and, if you will, join my Yahoo group and look at other sources of information to gain perspective on this important issue. Feel free to contact me by email to ask questions or provide further insight on your own findings, formal or informal. We must transform, not only the process of our consumption of media, but of our creation of human culture and cultural content, from an unconscious endeavor to a vibrant and conscious dynamic, capable of highlighting and validating the very highest values of human life, love, action and spirit, something woefully lacking in the media most often consumed by this society.

"Cultural Bias in Prime Time Television and Teenage Viewers: Cultural Media Literacy for High School and Higher Education"

Teenagers, as formative adults and aspirational viewers, look to prime time television programming to assist them with defining their roles, behavior and social expectations. Television continues to project characters and storylines steeped in cultural bias. Studies revealed that the programming showed persistent, overt and subtle, negative stereotypes of numerical minorities, women and young people. Current trends in corporate media conglomeration, centralization of control over all media outlets, help explain the challenges of the teen media and television environment. Teenagers are falling prey to the prejudiced characterizations, negative portrayals, wholesale omissions of sub-cultural populations and advertiser-driven balkanization of television audiences. The primary objective of this study was to qualitatively assess the level of televisual bias and segregation that is validating oppressive ideas and behavior that threaten the cultural life of the United States of America. Media literacy education, with a focus on communal and cultural issues is a positive, though still largely latent force, that can help to counteract harmful human messages that often lie hidden in the technically sophisticated, though narrowly conceived programming. Prime time programming watched heavily by teenagers was recorded and analyzed, observing five cultural parameters: Culture/National Origin/Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Age and Ability. By exploring these categories of sub-cultural presentation, patterns of portrayals were found that gave perspective to practical issues currently challenging social cohesiveness. This qualitative study gave rise to a cultural media literacy presentation, created as a proactive outgrowth of this research in the interest of addressing the issues of social discord, geared for high school and college students and adaptable for adult audiences.

Why Cultural Media Literacy?

Research by Children Now (1998) showed that children found it important to see characters that looked like them. It was also found that seeing those images helped contribute to their sense of self-esteem. As adults, as Dates and Barlow (1993) found, we strongly tend to watch television that reflects who we are. This means that people of European descent (Whites) tend to watch shows that feature Europeans and that Africans (Blacks) tend to watch shows that feature Africans. European viewers have been found to change the channel when they perceive that a program is about Africans (a show that features substantial
numbers of African characters). Individual shows and whole cable channels are geared toward smaller segments of the society. Viewing tendencies are narrowed, hence the opportunity for learning about those not directly like us is decreased. These findings point us to important issues when considering the importance of positive cultural portrayals and the viewing habits of people in a society still marked by racism, classism and sexism.

George Gerbner speaks of the human storytelling process being hijacked with the advent of electronic communication, especially with the development of corporate media conglomeration (companies such as Newscorp/Fox, Viacom, Disney and/or Time Warner). This change is detrimental to the long and short term development of the individual and the collective. In addition, the comprehension and understanding of the value of cultural diversity will not be fully realized until we begin to tell our own stories from and for a human frame of reference rather than a financial one, one championed by the strong influence of the ever-present advertisers. After all, the bottom line should be what is best for you, not what is best for money. The hypothesis I present to you today is that it is media and the capital that drive them that should serve the human, not the human serving media and its advertiser-controlled capital.

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"Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney Company said in a corporate memo, “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective”
("Mickey Mouse Monopoly", Sun & Picker, 2001, Commercializing Children’s Culture section)"
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Understanding the interrelationship between the forces of corporate capital, media content, character portrayals and relationships and media effects is key to gaining the perspective needed by media consumers in a media-heavy society such as this one.