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Post-Class Reflection

This course was integral in teaching me about how certain “key terms” are more important than one would believe. It truly opened my eyes and reinforced the belief that in editing or directing, everything has a carefully though out and calculated place, and formatting or photo placement isn’t left to chance, it’s very strategically placed. Moreover, it gave me a chance to further develop skills I didn’t believe myself to be good at. I got the chance to create projects that were completely mine, without the traditional assignment and oversight of schooling, and for that, I am grateful. I included relevant information for my projects in the description below.  

I chose my subject for ‘Curating a Key Term’ as I was watching the Family Guy/Star Wars crossover or mash-up episode. Oddly enough, I’ve always enjoyed “grown-up cartoons,” because they generally tend to be very topical and touch upon certain subjects in a comedic manner. Television shows, especially these cartoons, typically have special crossover episodes and the creative team will choose something, like Romeo and Juliet, and do it in their style. The delivery of a Family Guy rendition of R+J is vastly different when compared to what Shakespeare initially intended and what more honest renditions showcase. When compared to the Luhrmann and the 1968 version, it’s goofy and silly but it’s also very accessible. To someone who isn’t invested in older English plays/literature, renditions like this make traditionally difficult Shakespeare both accessible and relatable. I’ve read countless criticisms about how some comedic shows devalue the things they are doing a rendition of, but I highly disagree. I am of the belief that you can’t create a “one size fits all” of anything, not clothes, not media. Shows and movies that have strayed from tradition are often looked down upon, like Family Guy R+J, but they make tedious Shakespeare accessible and bring it to a wider audience. 

For my circulation map, I chose to do the generally unknown but infamous Kony 2012 movement. Let’s be honest, if you ask someone on the street, in the style of Billy Eichner, who Joseph Kony is, you’ll probably get a very confused look. The media storm that began on March 5, 2012 is a learning lesson on how virality isn’t something that can be planned, mapped, or even have a predictable outcome. The documentary highlighted Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, a war criminal who recruited unwilling children to fight for the LRA. This cause seemed worthy of the media attention it received, but like anything that’s pushed into the limelight, the truth of Invisible Children became very transparent. Funded by fundamentalist Christian organizations and anti-gay groups, the public began to wonder if this was who they truly wanted their money to go to. Additionally, one of the board members was recorded drunkenly stating that he would keep $900,000 from a $1,000,000 grant given to them for Haitian earthquake relief. People are already skeptical of charitable foundations or relief funds, for reasons such as this, and to have a board member make these awful claims couldn’t have been palatable for the public. The final nails in the Kony 2012 coffin came shortly after this. In a showing of Kony 2012 in Uganda, there was very well-documented outrage by Ugandan people, saying there was no aid or support coming to them, and that their pain and suffering was being commercialized and sensationalized without any real change. During this time, the co-founder of Invisible Children went on a drunken streaking trip in San Diego and even stopped to pleasure himself. After this, Kony 2012 fell off the proverbial map, and never rose again in popularity, leaving Ugandan children at the mercy of other aid foundations.  

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For my feature article, I decided to examine the increasingly concerning representations of love and romance portrayed by Hollywood. In this article, I highlight three similar movies that are targeted at different demographics, but that all have a sinister subtext and very creepy parallels, even though one is a children's movie.