Above is a photo of Harvard Law student Rahim Oberholtzer, as well as a link to an article detailing his story. In 2000, Oberholtzer, who was born to Pakistani immigrant parents won the (at the time) largest game show prize in American history, 1.12 million dollars on the show TwentyOne. TwentyOne is a trivia game show where the contestant is presented with a series of multiple choice questions of increasing difficulty, similar to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Oberholtzer won the largest prize in the show’s history, and in doing so, along with the recent influx of foreign athletes came to represent the divide between the goals of old immigration and new immigration.
While Oberholtzer represents the new form of immigration, his parents represent the goals of old immigration. In the past, the goals of immigration were o move to America, where, according to myth the streets were paved with gold, and to get a good job, buy a home, and start a family. It was these goals and the promise of economic opportunities for those willing to work hard that drove the large influx of immigrants from all across the world to travel from to the “land of opportunity”. During the time of “old immigration”, United States saw immigrants from across the globe, but mainly from Northern and Western Europe (Oberholtzer’s father was born in Germany) during the “Ellis Island Era”, that creating the melting-pot theory of American cultural assimilation. Oberholtzer’s parents succeeded within the goals of old immigrants. Assimilating into American culture, both gained good jobs and achieved economic prosperity, and with an Americanized family and a child pursuing a top-notch American education (at Harvard Law), all of which would not have been possible in the old country.
While his parents represent “old immigration”, Oberholtzer represents the new wave of immigrants coming to American and chasing the American Dream. While in the past, most immigrants came from Europe and other democratized countries. In recent years, however, the trend has shifted in recent years, showing an increase of immigrants from Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Of the top ten countries from which the US received legal immigrants in 2009, none were European. As a Pakistani immigrant, Overholtzer fits this mold. What truly sets new and old immigration apart however, is not demographics or goals (both come to the United States for economic opportunity), but their methods of achieving these goals. While old immigrants desired educations and steady jobs, new immigrants desire to get rich quick. Oberholtzer fits this because as though he was a law student at a prestigious university, he became rich essentially overnight. Oberholtzer won 1.12 million dollars on a trivia game show that took him less than 24 hours to film. Oberholtzer’s nationality and instantaneous riches make him the prototypical model for new immigration and the new American Dream
The ideal of the new American Dream is also shown by the influx of new immigrant athletes, such as Yao Ming (a Chinese NBA star, who is oft cited as the most popular professional athlete in the world) and Manu Ginobili (Argentinean NBA player), who came to United States as professional athletes, and became instantaneous millionaires. In particular, Major League Baseball has seen an influx of Latino players, as 30% of the game’s players, including many stars such as Albert Pujols (Puerto Rico) and Jose Reyes (Dominican Republic, nicknamed “The Republic of Baseball”) hail from Latin American nations. These players are viewed as heroes in their homelands because they are success stories of the new American Dream, as they became essentially overnight millionaires (as a result of large signing bonuses) due to their athletic prowess. Baseball teams have capitalized on this attitude by building “baseball academies” (almost every team has one, most in the Dominican Republic) designed to essentially farm baseball players. The players view this as their opportunity at the American Dream, an escape from poverty for them as well as their families. This is due to the fact that while their salaries are a fraction of their American counterparts, playing at a baseball academy is one of the most lucrative jobs in most Latin nations. In addition, the players are also afforded a chance to be invited to spring training, and with it a life in the United States. The lifestyle of a Dominican player at a baseball academy is accurately portrayed in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s 2008 film, Sugar. In Sugar, Miguel, the protagonist is a pitcher at an academy in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The film depicts his struggle with the new American Dream, as his family has been left without a father and it is viewed as Miguel’s responsibility to provide for his family through baseball. The profession of providing for his family eventually breaks Miguel, causing him to first begin taking steroids, and then to eventually abandon his team and flee to New York City.
The ideals of old immigration and new immigration (and along with it the new American Dream) vary greatly. While in the past, immigrants desired to come to the United States for the opportunity to work hard for a living, as Rahim Oberholtzer’s parents did. Recently, however immigrants have been coming to the United States with the goal of becoming instantaneously wealthy. This trend has been embodied by both Rahim Oberholtzer’s record-setting 1.12 million dollar prize on TwentyOne for less than a day’s work, as well as the influx of foreign athletes playing in American professional sports leagues
Growing Up Male In America Young males growing up in America are taught the ideals they are supposed to live up to from a variety of different texts disguised as entertainment. Men in western society are supposed to be strong, reserved and in control. Young males growing up learn these ideals through popular TV shows, such as GI Joe: A Real American Hero, In addition to learning the qualities of the western “ideal male” through these texts, young men also learn that violence is an effective tool for both enforcing one’s will and gaining one’s desires, which perpetuates the culture of violence that plagues our society today. GI Joe: A Real American Hero was a very popular children’s TV show during the 1990's, and one that had a profound impact on the psyches of many young men growing up in that time period. The title itself insinuates that the characters of GI Joe are a golden standard that we should all strive for and be lucky to live up to. In addition to this, almost every character embodies that very physical ideal of an American male. All have caricaturized bulging biceps and massive pectoral muscles, as well as blocky, over sized heads (it is probably not a coincidence that these traits also fit the stereotypical mold of a steroid abuser). The fact that almost every character in the GI Joe series (and keep in mind, these characters are “real American heroes”) is extremely physically fit helps to further the perception in American society (and young male’s minds) that a males worth is based more on his physical prowess than intellectual ability. It is because of this that young men feel so much pressure to excel in sports and athletics while schoolwork falls by the wayside. Young males today are pressured and trained from a very young age to be outstanding athletes (for example, AAU and travel sports, especially basketball and baseball start at very young ages, and continue year-round). It is for the reason that athletics budgets consume massive portions of many a school’s funds, while enrichment programs are essentially ignored. A recent example of this is the 2009-2010 University of Kentucky men's basketball team. It was recently published that the team had an average 2.025 GPA, barely above the NCAA’s minimum 2.0. In addition, no less than four players left school before their graduation to pursue a career in the NBA. Despite this decidedly sub par level of academic achievement, however, the season was considered a resounding success because the team reached the national quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. GI Joe: A Real American Hero also showcases that for males, violence is an accepted path to impose one's will. Almost all of the main characters on the show have violent first names, such as “Cutter”, “Quick Kick” and “Bazooka”, and even those who don’t use violence in some form almost every episode. The violence in the show is both stylized and glamorized, and is always used to achieve some form of greater good, such as protecting the group’s hideout. Peaceful solutions are never considered nor even mentioned. It is because the group casually uses violence to achieve their goals, without even a hint of a negative consequence, that a generation of young males believes that this is an acceptable approach once they reach adolescence. Young men are notorious for fighting (even GHS has seen a rash of fist fights this school year), and bar fights among males in their 20’s are startlingly common. This is because males learn at a very young age (from shows like GI Joe) that violence is an acceptable method to accomplish your goals. The characters in GI Joe never bother to look for peaceful solutions, and thus neither do the young males who grew up watching them and following their example. Young males learn a lot from children’s shows like GI Joe: A Real American Hero. Foremost, young men learn the mold of the ideal male specimen in Western society, someone who is confident, in control and values physical fitness and superiority rather than intellectual growth. It is because of this that many young men grow up valuing sports and athletics more than academics. Most damaging, young men become immersed in a culture of violence through these televisions shows. Although it is only cartoon violence, and heavily fantasized, the tendencies of the characters to seek out a fight and use violence as a first (and only) option rubs off on young men and manifests itself in an affinity for fist fights once these young men reach adolescence.
The 2007 film, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James is both a generic screwball comedy and a stinging representation of the differences of the way our culture treats heterosexuals and homosexuals, particularly males. The film centers around two New York City firefighters who are forced to enter a homosexual marriage of convenience for financial reasons, despite their heterosexuality. Because the pair (the titular Chuck and Larry) attempt to hide their heterosexuality (in one of the film’s most unrealistic aspects, the government sends an investigator to determine “how gay they are”), the film becomes a portrayal of how heterosexual men view the homosexual lifestyle, through a comedic, stereotypical lens.
After the pair is challenged to prove that their marriage is not a fraud, they choose not to act like a legitimate couple in love (as would be the reasonable course of action) but to act as stereotypical and flamboyant as possible, in an apparent attempt to incite an derogatory, “oh, they must be gay” reaction in others. Chuck and Larry proceed to attempt to appear to the public as gay men by acting as walking stereotypes. Similar to the time-honored Hollywood stereotypes of the stoic, wise Asian men in old Kung-Fu films and the hip, afro-wearing, jive-talking African American, Chuck and Larry play upon the public’s (and by the extension, the audience’s) preconceived notions of what gay men should act like. Chuck and Larry begin to wear bright colors, attending dance clubs where patrons dress in flamboyant sexualized costumes and in Larry’s words, go shopping for “gay stuff.” The film attempts to play the audience’s own prejudices against them in one particular scene, when one of Chuck and Larry’s fellow firefighters (played by Ving Rhames) reveals his homosexuality. The film intends for this confession to be both surprising and humorous for the audience because until the revelation, Rhames character is portrayed as the polar opposite of what our society expects from a stereotypical homosexual. Rhames’ character is large and muscular, excels in sports (particularly basketball), and is known to be brave in the face of danger. The film expects the confession to be humorous because we are not supposed to expect homosexuals to embody any of these traits, which is a damaging and unfair stereotype. I Now Pronounce Chuck and Larry also depicts the difference between how homosexuals and heterosexuals are treated in a workplace environment. One of the central themes of the film is the disparity between the way the rest of the firefighters treat Chuck and Larry before and after they come out as “gay.” Before Chuck and Larry come out as “gay” they are both popular and well-respected in the fire department, as much for their personal qualities as their body of work. However, after the fire department learns that the pair has entered a homosexual relationship, they are treated as second-class citizens. Many coworkers request to be transferred off their shifts with Chuck and Larry, and socializing with the pair at the firehouse becomes frowned upon. This shows the unfair discrimination and prejudices that homosexuals face everyday in our society. The discrimination occurs despite the fact that Chuck and Larry continue to treat their coworkers in the exact same manner as they did when they fire department believed they were heterosexual. However, because of their perceived homosexuality, the pair becomes outcasts at their own workplace. This depiction of discrimination in the workplace is both an indictment of the unfair treatment homosexuals receive in our society, as well as an example of one of the many reasons that homosexuals in our society are afraid to admit their sexuality and are cruelly forced to stay “in the closet.”
While it is intended as simple comedic fodder, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry can be seen as a portrayal of the way homosexuals are both viewed and treated in our society. The film often plays upon the audience’s preconceived notions of how homosexuals should act, which is shown in Chuck and Larry’s transition to a faux-homosexual lifestyle. In addition, the film portrays the discrimination that many homosexuals face in the workplace. This discrimination discourages many homosexuals from “coming out”, which in turn furthers the cycle of misconceptions and prejudices.
The Political Landscape
The above picture illustrates the biggest problem facing the American political world today. As a result of the long-standing two party system, many Americans (politicians included) have become too caught up in partisanship to be politically effective. Instead of choosing sides on an issue-by-issue basis, many Americans divide themselves upon party lines and allow themselves to be swayed by the opinions of the majority of their party, choosing the traditional conservative or liberal view. The result of this is people often vote based on what is best for their party rather than what is best for them as individuals, allowing partisanship to essentially undermine the democratic process. In addition, partisanship has divided much of the American political world, especially in Congress. When listing a congressman's name in print, we use the notation "Chuck Schumer (D-NY)". This shows that we believe a congressman's party is one of the two most essential pieces of information defining that person (the other being their home state), and that we can boil down a congressman's political standpoints to a simple "D" or "R" The two-party system has also created an “us against them” atmosphere, where conservatives and liberals view each other as enemies that need to be overcome, rather than allies in bettering the United States of America. This has created a stagnant and unproductive political atmosphere, in which many politicians are more concerned with undermining the other party rather than passing legislation beneficial to the American people.
Important politicians are also beginning to recognize the negative effects partisanship has on both the political process and public opinion. Recently, the constant partisanship has made congress a both hostile and difficult place. This February, Indiana senator Evan Bayh (D) announced he would not seek re-election in November, citing the frustrations of strict partisanship as the cause. Over the course of the 2008 presidential campaign, two of the most common buzzwords used were “bipartisanship” and “reaching across the aisle”, the latter of which being a reference to the long-standing tradition of congressmen seating themselves according to party lines. Both Barack Obama and John McCain attempted to sway voters by creating an image of a politician who chose what was best for the American people, regardless of the conservative or liberal implications, as well as distancing themselves from any association with strict partisanship. While both have shown examples of bipartisanship, such as Obama's willingness to consider merit pay for teachers (traditionally a conservative view point) and McCain’s anti-torture work, the reality is that even these two champions of bipartisanship are not immune to being swayed by traditional partisan viewpoints. Over his tenure in the senate, statistics show that McCain has voted with the Republicans 83% of the time, and in Obama’s three years in the senate, he voted with the Democrats 97% of the time, a startlingly high number.
In addition to causing damages in the American political system, partisanship is also responsible for divisions and hostility in the American public. Over the course of 2008 presidential campaign, there were many reports of partisan-related violence across the United States. A 23 year-old Michigan man admitted to planning to place in bomb in the tunnels surrounding the nearby National Republican Convention, and in Portland, Oregon two tossed Molotov cocktails in an effort to burn down another mans John McCain sign. The rash of violence between the two parties is a result of the stirring hostility that has existed for years. As a result, the staunch partisanship of our politicians and leaders has extended to staunch partisanship between the citizens, where it has led to hatred and violence.
Abraham Lincoln once famously said “a house divided against itself cannot stand”, a statement that is becoming true in the United States today. The partisanship of our leaders has made Congress both a difficult and unproductive place, where congressmen are more concerned with undermining the other party rather than passing essential legislation. In addition, the harsh feelings of partisanship have spread to American citizens, resulting in a rash of party-related violence that has made some parts of the country unsafe to peacefully express one’s political views.
for more on the departure of Senator Evan Bayh, see this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021603553.html
Above is a photo of Harvard Law student Rahim Oberholtzer, as well as a link to an article detailing his story. In 2000, Oberholtzer, who was born to Pakistani immigrant parents won the (at the time) largest game show prize in American history, 1.12 million dollars on the show TwentyOne. TwentyOne is a trivia game show where the contestant is presented with a series of multiple choice questions of increasing difficulty, similar to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Oberholtzer won the largest prize in the show’s history, and in doing so, along with the recent influx of foreign athletes came to represent the divide between the goals of old immigration and new immigration.
While Oberholtzer represents the new form of immigration, his parents represent the goals of old immigration. In the past, the goals of immigration were o move to America, where, according to myth the streets were paved with gold, and to get a good job, buy a home, and start a family. It was these goals and the promise of economic opportunities for those willing to work hard that drove the large influx of immigrants from all across the world to travel from to the “land of opportunity”. During the time of “old immigration”, United States saw immigrants from across the globe, but mainly from Northern and Western Europe (Oberholtzer’s father was born in Germany) during the “Ellis Island Era”, that creating the melting-pot theory of American cultural assimilation. Oberholtzer’s parents succeeded within the goals of old immigrants. Assimilating into American culture, both gained good jobs and achieved economic prosperity, and with an Americanized family and a child pursuing a top-notch American education (at Harvard Law), all of which would not have been possible in the old country.
While his parents represent “old immigration”, Oberholtzer represents the new wave of immigrants coming to American and chasing the American Dream. While in the past, most immigrants came from Europe and other democratized countries. In recent years, however, the trend has shifted in recent years, showing an increase of immigrants from Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Of the top ten countries from which the US received legal immigrants in 2009, none were European. As a Pakistani immigrant, Overholtzer fits this mold. What truly sets new and old immigration apart however, is not demographics or goals (both come to the United States for economic opportunity), but their methods of achieving these goals. While old immigrants desired educations and steady jobs, new immigrants desire to get rich quick. Oberholtzer fits this because as though he was a law student at a prestigious university, he became rich essentially overnight. Oberholtzer won 1.12 million dollars on a trivia game show that took him less than 24 hours to film. Oberholtzer’s nationality and instantaneous riches make him the prototypical model for new immigration and the new American Dream
The ideal of the new American Dream is also shown by the influx of new immigrant athletes, such as Yao Ming (a Chinese NBA star, who is oft cited as the most popular professional athlete in the world) and Manu Ginobili (Argentinean NBA player), who came to United States as professional athletes, and became instantaneous millionaires. In particular, Major League Baseball has seen an influx of Latino players, as 30% of the game’s players, including many stars such as Albert Pujols (Puerto Rico) and Jose Reyes (Dominican Republic, nicknamed “The Republic of Baseball”) hail from Latin American nations. These players are viewed as heroes in their homelands because they are success stories of the new American Dream, as they became essentially overnight millionaires (as a result of large signing bonuses) due to their athletic prowess. Baseball teams have capitalized on this attitude by building “baseball academies” (almost every team has one, most in the Dominican Republic) designed to essentially farm baseball players. The players view this as their opportunity at the American Dream, an escape from poverty for them as well as their families. This is due to the fact that while their salaries are a fraction of their American counterparts, playing at a baseball academy is one of the most lucrative jobs in most Latin nations. In addition, the players are also afforded a chance to be invited to spring training, and with it a life in the United States. The lifestyle of a Dominican player at a baseball academy is accurately portrayed in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s 2008 film, Sugar. In Sugar, Miguel, the protagonist is a pitcher at an academy in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The film depicts his struggle with the new American Dream, as his family has been left without a father and it is viewed as Miguel’s responsibility to provide for his family through baseball. The profession of providing for his family eventually breaks Miguel, causing him to first begin taking steroids, and then to eventually abandon his team and flee to New York City.
The ideals of old immigration and new immigration (and along with it the new American Dream) vary greatly. While in the past, immigrants desired to come to the United States for the opportunity to work hard for a living, as Rahim Oberholtzer’s parents did. Recently, however immigrants have been coming to the United States with the goal of becoming instantaneously wealthy. This trend has been embodied by both Rahim Oberholtzer’s record-setting 1.12 million dollar prize on TwentyOne for less than a day’s work, as well as the influx of foreign athletes playing in American professional sports leagues
for more on Rahim Oberholtzer's record setting victory, see this article: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/02.10/millionaire.html
Growing Up Male In America
Young males growing up in America are taught the ideals they are supposed to live up to from a variety of different texts disguised as entertainment. Men in western society are supposed to be strong, reserved and in control. Young males growing up learn these ideals through popular TV shows, such as GI Joe: A Real American Hero, In addition to learning the qualities of the western “ideal male” through these texts, young men also learn that violence is an effective tool for both enforcing one’s will and gaining one’s desires, which perpetuates the culture of violence that plagues our society today.
GI Joe: A Real American Hero was a very popular children’s TV show during the 1990's, and one that had a profound impact on the psyches of many young men growing up in that time period. The title itself insinuates that the characters of GI Joe are a golden standard that we should all strive for and be lucky to live up to. In addition to this, almost every character embodies that very physical ideal of an American male. All have caricaturized bulging biceps and massive pectoral muscles, as well as blocky, over sized heads (it is probably not a coincidence that these traits also fit the stereotypical mold of a steroid abuser). The fact that almost every character in the GI Joe series (and keep in mind, these characters are “real American heroes”) is extremely physically fit helps to further the perception in American society (and young male’s minds) that a males worth is based more on his physical prowess than intellectual ability. It is because of this that young men feel so much pressure to excel in sports and athletics while schoolwork falls by the wayside. Young males today are pressured and trained from a very young age to be outstanding athletes (for example, AAU and travel sports, especially basketball and baseball start at very young ages, and continue year-round). It is for the reason that athletics budgets consume massive portions of many a school’s funds, while enrichment programs are essentially ignored. A recent example of this is the 2009-2010 University of Kentucky men's basketball team. It was recently published that the team had an average 2.025 GPA, barely above the NCAA’s minimum 2.0. In addition, no less than four players left school before their graduation to pursue a career in the NBA. Despite this decidedly sub par level of academic achievement, however, the season was considered a resounding success because the team reached the national quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
GI Joe: A Real American Hero also showcases that for males, violence is an accepted path to impose one's will. Almost all of the main characters on the show have violent first names, such as “Cutter”, “Quick Kick” and “Bazooka”, and even those who don’t use violence in some form almost every episode. The violence in the show is both stylized and glamorized, and is always used to achieve some form of greater good, such as protecting the group’s hideout. Peaceful solutions are never considered nor even mentioned. It is because the group casually uses violence to achieve their goals, without even a hint of a negative consequence, that a generation of young males believes that this is an acceptable approach once they reach adolescence. Young men are notorious for fighting (even GHS has seen a rash of fist fights this school year), and bar fights among males in their 20’s are startlingly common. This is because males learn at a very young age (from shows like GI Joe) that violence is an acceptable method to accomplish your goals. The characters in GI Joe never bother to look for peaceful solutions, and thus neither do the young males who grew up watching them and following their example.
Young males learn a lot from children’s shows like GI Joe: A Real American Hero. Foremost, young men learn the mold of the ideal male specimen in Western society, someone who is confident, in control and values physical fitness and superiority rather than intellectual growth. It is because of this that many young men grow up valuing sports and athletics more than academics. Most damaging, young men become immersed in a culture of violence through these televisions shows. Although it is only cartoon violence, and heavily fantasized, the tendencies of the characters to seek out a fight and use violence as a first (and only) option rubs off on young men and manifests itself in an affinity for fist fights once these young men reach adolescence.
For more information on the effect of violent television shows on young children, see this study done at the University of Arizona:
http://datamonster.sbs.arizona.edu/communication/faculty/donnerstein_3.pdf
Representation of Difference
The 2007 film, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James is both a generic screwball comedy and a stinging representation of the differences of the way our culture treats heterosexuals and homosexuals, particularly males. The film centers around two New York City firefighters who are forced to enter a homosexual marriage of convenience for financial reasons, despite their heterosexuality. Because the pair (the titular Chuck and Larry) attempt to hide their heterosexuality (in one of the film’s most unrealistic aspects, the government sends an investigator to determine “how gay they are”), the film becomes a portrayal of how heterosexual men view the homosexual lifestyle, through a comedic, stereotypical lens.
After the pair is challenged to prove that their marriage is not a fraud, they choose not to act like a legitimate couple in love (as would be the reasonable course of action) but to act as stereotypical and flamboyant as possible, in an apparent attempt to incite an derogatory, “oh, they must be gay” reaction in others. Chuck and Larry proceed to attempt to appear to the public as gay men by acting as walking stereotypes. Similar to the time-honored Hollywood stereotypes of the stoic, wise Asian men in old Kung-Fu films and the hip, afro-wearing, jive-talking African American, Chuck and Larry play upon the public’s (and by the extension, the audience’s) preconceived notions of what gay men should act like. Chuck and Larry begin to wear bright colors, attending dance clubs where patrons dress in flamboyant sexualized costumes and in Larry’s words, go shopping for “gay stuff.” The film attempts to play the audience’s own prejudices against them in one particular scene, when one of Chuck and Larry’s fellow firefighters (played by Ving Rhames) reveals his homosexuality. The film intends for this confession to be both surprising and humorous for the audience because until the revelation, Rhames character is portrayed as the polar opposite of what our society expects from a stereotypical homosexual. Rhames’ character is large and muscular, excels in sports (particularly basketball), and is known to be brave in the face of danger. The film expects the confession to be humorous because we are not supposed to expect homosexuals to embody any of these traits, which is a damaging and unfair stereotype.
I Now Pronounce Chuck and Larry also depicts the difference between how homosexuals and heterosexuals are treated in a workplace environment. One of the central themes of the film is the disparity between the way the rest of the firefighters treat Chuck and Larry before and after they come out as “gay.” Before Chuck and Larry come out as “gay” they are both popular and well-respected in the fire department, as much for their personal qualities as their body of work. However, after the fire department learns that the pair has entered a homosexual relationship, they are treated as second-class citizens. Many coworkers request to be transferred off their shifts with Chuck and Larry, and socializing with the pair at the firehouse becomes frowned upon. This shows the unfair discrimination and prejudices that homosexuals face everyday in our society. The discrimination occurs despite the fact that Chuck and Larry continue to treat their coworkers in the exact same manner as they did when they fire department believed they were heterosexual. However, because of their perceived homosexuality, the pair becomes outcasts at their own workplace. This depiction of discrimination in the workplace is both an indictment of the unfair treatment homosexuals receive in our society, as well as an example of one of the many reasons that homosexuals in our society are afraid to admit their sexuality and are cruelly forced to stay “in the closet.”
While it is intended as simple comedic fodder, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry can be seen as a portrayal of the way homosexuals are both viewed and treated in our society. The film often plays upon the audience’s preconceived notions of how homosexuals should act, which is shown in Chuck and Larry’s transition to a faux-homosexual lifestyle. In addition, the film portrays the discrimination that many homosexuals face in the workplace. This discrimination discourages many homosexuals from “coming out”, which in turn furthers the cycle of misconceptions and prejudices.
For more information on the portrayal of homosexuals in film, see this article:
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/gays_and_lesbians/gay_film.cfm
The Political Landscape
The above picture illustrates the biggest problem facing the American political world today. As a result of the long-standing two party system, many Americans (politicians included) have become too caught up in partisanship to be politically effective. Instead of choosing sides on an issue-by-issue basis, many Americans divide themselves upon party lines and allow themselves to be swayed by the opinions of the majority of their party, choosing the traditional conservative or liberal view. The result of this is people often vote based on what is best for their party rather than what is best for them as individuals, allowing partisanship to essentially undermine the democratic process. In addition, partisanship has divided much of the American political world, especially in Congress. When listing a congressman's name in print, we use the notation "Chuck Schumer (D-NY)". This shows that we believe a congressman's party is one of the two most essential pieces of information defining that person (the other being their home state), and that we can boil down a congressman's political standpoints to a simple "D" or "R" The two-party system has also created an “us against them” atmosphere, where conservatives and liberals view each other as enemies that need to be overcome, rather than allies in bettering the United States of America. This has created a stagnant and unproductive political atmosphere, in which many politicians are more concerned with undermining the other party rather than passing legislation beneficial to the American people.
Important politicians are also beginning to recognize the negative effects partisanship has on both the political process and public opinion. Recently, the constant partisanship has made congress a both hostile and difficult place. This February, Indiana senator Evan Bayh (D) announced he would not seek re-election in November, citing the frustrations of strict partisanship as the cause. Over the course of the 2008 presidential campaign, two of the most common buzzwords used were “bipartisanship” and “reaching across the aisle”, the latter of which being a reference to the long-standing tradition of congressmen seating themselves according to party lines. Both Barack Obama and John McCain attempted to sway voters by creating an image of a politician who chose what was best for the American people, regardless of the conservative or liberal implications, as well as distancing themselves from any association with strict partisanship. While both have shown examples of bipartisanship, such as Obama's willingness to consider merit pay for teachers (traditionally a conservative view point) and McCain’s anti-torture work, the reality is that even these two champions of bipartisanship are not immune to being swayed by traditional partisan viewpoints. Over his tenure in the senate, statistics show that McCain has voted with the Republicans 83% of the time, and in Obama’s three years in the senate, he voted with the Democrats 97% of the time, a startlingly high number.
In addition to causing damages in the American political system, partisanship is also responsible for divisions and hostility in the American public. Over the course of 2008 presidential campaign, there were many reports of partisan-related violence across the United States. A 23 year-old Michigan man admitted to planning to place in bomb in the tunnels surrounding the nearby National Republican Convention, and in Portland, Oregon two tossed Molotov cocktails in an effort to burn down another mans John McCain sign. The rash of violence between the two parties is a result of the stirring hostility that has existed for years. As a result, the staunch partisanship of our politicians and leaders has extended to staunch partisanship between the citizens, where it has led to hatred and violence.
Abraham Lincoln once famously said “a house divided against itself cannot stand”, a statement that is becoming true in the United States today. The partisanship of our leaders has made Congress both a difficult and unproductive place, where congressmen are more concerned with undermining the other party rather than passing essential legislation. In addition, the harsh feelings of partisanship have spread to American citizens, resulting in a rash of party-related violence that has made some parts of the country unsafe to peacefully express one’s political views.
for more on the departure of Senator Evan Bayh, see this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021603553.html