intro_to_american


	intro_to_american_culture
amy in red	probably one of the best classes i took. also, a way i got to take a class off-campus at another school and still get Mudd credit (who wouldn't.) also, way too complicated. here is a part of my midterm. because i know you are like sooo interested. obviously i couldn't even think about the Mudd dining hall (at that point), and my particular dorm didn't have a common area common to the whole dorm. Drawing on Ewen's "City Lights: Immigrant Women and the Rise of the Movies" and "Who Built America," discuss how saloons and movie theaters-each distinct forms of public space--shaped working-class popular culture. Can you identify comparable public spaces in your own experience? If so, how do they shape your experience? In the late nineteenth century, mass numbers of eastern and southern Europeans began to immigrate to the United States. Most of them settled in large urban centers of the East. In this new location, they had to redefine the sense of community that had been such a vital component of the culture in Europe. However, in America, the struggle for existence was fought separately by each family. Immigrants thus gathered in their free time. Saloons and movie houses provided a place for the establishment of the new popular culture. In the 1880's, growing restrictions on the consumption of alcohol in the workplace and the shortening of the workday increased the working-class demand for the saloon. The alcohol industry became big business when new technology made it possible for beer to be shipped from the breweries of the Midwest to the East. Successful beer companies invested their profit in saloons. The saloons of immigrant neighborhoods flourished because workers needed a place to relax after a hard day's work other than the crowded, noisy tenements. Saloons also provided cheap food and beverage that was free of the contaminated public water found in the cities (Gutman 83). Men turned to the saloons as their source of entertainment and social connections outside work and family. "The saloon provided a place where male workers could read a newspaper, pick up a lead on a job and enjoy good fellowship. Popular entertainment -boxing matches, cockfights, or gambling, sometimes illegal-enlivened the atmosphere. Trade unions and ethnic organizations connected with this culture, meeting in saloons when they lacked their own facilities" (Gutman 85). The atmosphere of the saloon provided immigrants with a feeling of camaraderie in a new country. Work in America was an individual pursuit. In the saloons, the workers could unite to share their experiences. For the most part, the patrons of saloons were male immigrants. Social workers protested the saloon atmosphere because it drew the men away from their families and squandered the family income. Since women did not participate in the saloon culture, the social lives of men and women were separated. The men were then the first to be introduced to "the commercialized world that was eroding working class [European] culture" (Gutman 87). The advent of the motion picture facilitated the assimilation of all immigrants into American culture. Like saloons, the movies provided cheap entertainment and an escape from the tenement. Silent movies appealed to immigrants because they did not require the viewer to understand English. They also provided a public space for the community to socialize. Movies helped immigrants relate their background to their new American life. Themes that reflected immigrant experience like poverty and class struggle were dominant in early films. They served to provide an explanation of the immigrants' place in society: "Movies were an exemplary piece of a cultural environment that interacted, over time, with the social history of its audience, playing a crucial role as an "agency of mass impressions" in the large-scale displacement of people. Changing demographic and industrial patterns created the context for an audiovisual culture designed to fill the gaps and fissures of experience. As an agency of mass impression, movies became a new electronic presence in the social landscape of everyday life, explaining away the past, preparing people for participation in a new present" (Ewen 54). Under this influence, immigrants started to take on the character defined to them by the movies. Immigrant daughters especially needed guidance in defining their American character. Their native culture dictated a strongly domestic existence, but they were required to work outside of the home in America to help support their families. Films of the late teens and early twenties provided the young woman with visions of social, sexual, and financial independence. "These films openly attack the customary assumptions, behavior, and style of the audience and point the way to a new self-definition. In this sense, they became an agency of Americanization"(Ewen 70). The movie houses were also an opportunity for young women to date outside of the family. At first, the film industry drew an immigrant audience by featuring the themes of their struggle for existence. The pulls of larger society eventually caused the filmmakers to produce more "mainstream" movies. In this way, the immigrant audience absorbed American culture as created by the movies. Both saloons and movie houses provided public spaces for the socialization of immigrants. In saloons, immigrants learned about their new American culture from each other. At movie houses, they passively ingested American culture from the filmmakers. I only actively participate in a campus community, which is a very limited representation of American culture. To me, there is no public space that I regularly inhabit equivalent to the saloon. The social values of America have been dictated to me by my family, peers, and the media. Television and newspapers have a similar impression on me as the movies had on the immigrants. I am less impressionable than a newly arrived foreigner, but I am subjected to a media culture that is shared by all Americans. To a certain extent, I have adopted social attitudes that the television media has created.	120120
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unhinged	relics_of_a_suburban_life youngstown scenester_bitches photographic_memory existential_airlines (brahms violin buddhism all the things i really need are from somewhere else)	120120
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AnonOrb	I am writing this letter to you Iran.. ....people of Iran. I am writing to apologize to you for what the people who rule my country are doing to you, and for what they will surely do in the future. I want you to understand that it's not the American people who hate you. Everyone I know knows that what we do is Evil. Sure we have our citizens who don't have the intelligence of a Chicken, but understand that it isn't really their fault. In this country the Masses are hypnotized by Television which is owned and manipulated by the same greedy 1% who make wars for profit. Not only are most Americans Hypnotized, they are poisoned through their water supplies that are loaded with Fluoride, which is used in the same way the Nazi's did to their prisoners, to make them lose their will power and dummy down. They are poisoned through their air the entire country is flown over by airplanes dumping aluminum and barium and other toxic substances which get into the lungs, the food and water supplies. They are also lied to by their medical establishment and told that what is healthy, is unhealthy, and what is unhealthy, they are told is healthy. They believe they live in a Democracy, however they are only allowed to choose from options... that have been chosen for them as options by the rich 1%, who decide everything for them Letting them believe they are free, because they have choice.... And most don't seem to realize the choice is made for them.. The "foods" most eat cause them illness cause them to pay into a corrupt medical and pharmaceutical system that exist for profit... not for the health of their fellow man. In fact quite the opposite. There's lot of money to be made from sick people.. so the masses are kept at a certain degree of sickness all the time consuming pharmaceuticals that don't cure anything, but mask symptoms, and cause more problems.... that require more pharmaceuticals and more "Medical Care". So realize the American's that agree with the governments evil actions. are sick, unhealthy, hypnotized Drones. These drones used to be the masses, but I am hopeful they are waking up The internet has the ability to educate, people are beginning to wake up.. To be honest I don't know much about your country, but from the not so subtle attempts that our media is making to get Americans to hate Muslims, I assume you are a country with many Muslims. Americans don't know much about Muslims, what we are hypnotized to believe is that Muslims are terrorists who don't value human life.. and who treat women horribly. I watched a documentary on "Islam" I learned that it was the Muslims who brought Europe out of the Dark Ages.. That it was the Muslims who were centuries ahead of Europe in the Arts, Building, in Literature, in inventing things that were useful..... and much more. And what pulled Europe out of the Dark Ages was what they stole from the Muslims as they Raped, plundered and Killed in the name of Christianity... Yet what American's are hypnotized to believe is that Muslims are a bunch of Heathens running around the desert riding camels.... and becoming terrorists because, as George W Bush....our ExPresident (who we should theoretically respect, but who was illegally put in office and I don't know one single person who respects him) said, "You hate us because we are Free". And some people actually believed that... Of course any hatred towards our country would have nothing to do with the fact that we are still raping, plundering and killing Muslims the world over... Mostly because we want their oil, but also War is just good Business for that Rich Sick 1% who run this country. I'm sorry....I'm sorry.... I'm sorry.... I'm sorry..... There really isn't much I can do personally to help, But we live a very very simple life in the country We live on less money a Month than most folks make in car payments. And we are happy with our simple life and making so little money we are not required to pay taxes that will be used to kill innocent people abroad... mostly Muslims. Americans who make a normal amount of money have to give a percentage of that to the Rich 1%.. This tax is brokered by our government who disperses the money from the common man to the Rich 1% via wars in foreign lands and other means... I am so sorry Your country has every right to have Nuclear weapons Though Nobody should But with the US and so many other countries that surround you armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons it would only be fair. Of course we're led to believe that your insane leader would do something crazy and start a world war... Even though our country is the only one to ever use nuclear weapons against our fellow human beings.. killing millions. We are the Bully of the World We don't like when other countries who take care of their people make us look bad and don't want to pay to the rich 1%.. So we go to war with them. By the way I watched you leader give a speech at the UN.. Everything he said rang true. I wish everything our leaders said would ring true. Personally we don't have a television or get a newspaper. We refuse to be hypnotized.... I'm so sorry.... and Bless you...	120121
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unhinged	most of us are angry and powerless, trapped in the confines of a system that views us as parts of an equation. those of us that have thrown away our tvs and look to ourselves instead of the media for truth are taunted as socialists and freaks. go to school learn what they teach you don't ask questions take your medicine all under the insidious guise that we have the right to choose i am ashamed to be american where the masses are slaves to coporate greed and actually believe the shit they see on tv that it is equitable and fair for the few to control the many to rape every resource for short_sighted capital gain but claim that making sure ALL have food and shelter is a burden this society can't bear (sure its cliche for me to write a poem about it, but otherwise even thinking about the acceptable level of apathy and selfishness in this country makes me so angry i want to spit)	120121
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REAListic optimIST	Cit'zens United not yet cold, Corp'rate rights sit un-annulled. Our choice was sold for fool's gold: OMG Kitties! Totally lol'd!	120122
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dafremen	For future reference to the OP: I personally have had enough conditioning for one lifetime. I've had enough commercials, parental supervision, facts from the education system, state-funded rehabilitiation, peer-pressure, guilt-trips, posturing, manipulation, religious persecution and pressure. I've had enough convincing, cajoling, coaxing, coercion, cruelty, class distinctions, discussion, debate, dialogue and deterministic dogging by the dummies-who-know-better. Please don't share your schoolwork with anyone. Your parents don't care. Your friends don't care. Your teachers don't care. Let's face it, deep down inside..YOU don't really care. So drop it already ok? It's a farce and you're playing it out. Fine. We know. Parental/Student debt. Brainwashing. Shitty Job to Pay off the Loans. We get it. Please don't spread the ugliness of your slow inner annihilation outside of the confines of your skull. Just a suggestion. Thanks.	120123
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srealismas not make believe	hey i had no loans! aside from the recent loan from 10 weeks of nursing school, which i shall pay $50 on as we speak. i thought this was interesting, ironic, and quality, and you might like to know what sort-of-situation birthed blather where you find yourself so welcome. this professor did not brainwash. nope. you've got his question and my somewhat-confused answer. also, it was written in 1994, before I, at least, was on the internet apart from email. and: it is well-labelled. it was no bait-and-switch. if you don't mind, i know studying history is a flawed prospect at best, but there's no need to be repressive....	120123
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dafremen	Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to step back and stop trying to over identify with the generalizations please. THanks.	120123
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srealisma	no, it was repressive. i can be repressive too, but only after years of hearing the same stuff-o-rama over and over. so i'm sorry about that. please explain what makes you the "cop" in this situation. i do actually want to hear about it. maybe you have always had bad teachers? i was taught about propaganda in 4th grade... can you believe that? i've always had a lot of good teachers. and the truth is i do believe in truth in advertising, so.	120123
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unhinged	(ummm...maybe what he was saying is his response really had nothing directly to do with your writing. not all blathes are responses to what directly precedes them. sometimes people with weird brains that prefer abstract_association find inspiration in blathes that make tangential personal responses or chill_the_fuck_out as the world does not revolve around you if you don't want us to respond explicitly or implicitly why bother posting?)	120123
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unhinged	oops; i_was_wrong his post did directly have to do with you; but considering the fact that recently you jumped in my and other skites' shit about chatting here, I personally find it amusing yes i will gloat that i am not the only one that thinks your blatheing of school work is even more inane than reflections of the past. i still have my immature moments shrugs the dramatic_irony of you getting pissed over someone telling you what to or not to blathe is pretty fucking hilarious	120123
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srealisma	no, i thought he was being overly rude, in a completely un win-win way. yes, it's a little ironic, but only generically speaking i guess....	120123
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srealisma	no, it's possible he was not responding to me in a direct way. also, i almost never get "pissed" about this public website, for many years now. stimulated and excited to "make some progress", but pissed is definitely the wrong word.	120123
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unhinged	well you making value judgements about whether other peoples words are worthy enough for blather could be considered rude by some and i knew, just knew, you'd argue semantics with me on my wordchoice; insert whatever synonym for 'excitable' you want. if you don't really care, why do you argue?	120124
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srealisma	do i not care? angry is not it, though.	120124
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dafremen	And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your introduction to American culture. Any questions? Three fat swollen babies here to answer your questions..anyone? Yes, dumb looking bald guy in the back?	120124
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unhinged	(looks like im not totally alone anymore in realizing just how fucked this country is. glad to see socialists WINNING elections too)	180519
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unhinged	this_is_america	180521