Author: photis.2

Text Review Assignment: Hairspray (2007)-Meredith Photis

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Title: Hairspray

Medium: Movie (Musical/Comedy)

The movie Hairspray follows a young girl named Tracy Turnblad when she gets a chance to audition for her favorite show, “The Corny Collins Show”. Due to her weight, people are surprised and upset when Tracy gets the part; however, viewers end up loving Tracy and ratings for the show skyrocket. Although Tracy is provided with the chance to dance, many others still do not have the opportunity to share their talent. African Americans are only able to dance on the show once a month. Tracy recognizes this problem and decides to help fight for integration. Eventually, with the help of Tracy and many other supporters, “The Corny Collins Show” is successfully desegregated.

When watching Hairspray, I felt that the movie was not only engaging, but also conveyed a clear lesson about racism within our society. While the African American dancers were just as talented as everyone else, they were excluded from  “The Corny Collins Show” due to the color of their skin. In seeing how certain characters treated the African American dancers, I believed that the movie accurately depicted racism in society. The restricted abilities and continuous mistreatment of the African Americans depicted them as the “other”. Additionally, the effects of racism were further understood due to the movie’s ability to connect the audience with the characters. By showing the individual’s relatable personalities, the audience created sympathy for the characters and developed a desire to help them. For instance, when Tracy gets detention we are able to see how many African American teens in the movie used detention as a chance to express themselves through music and dance. This made the audience admire the characters and the audience was able to contrast their happiness in the detention scene, to their despair in being isolated. 

I was interested in the way that the movie demonstrated the character’s battle against racism. Although there was a struggle and clear sacrifice in order to achieve equality, I felt as though the movie made it seem that equality was easily achievable. In the movie, it does not take too long for “The Corny Collins Show” to  become integrated, but in reality there has been an ongoing fight against racism for decades and still racism is still not completely abolished. For example, in class we read March by John Lewis, which highlighted decades worth of fighting against racism. The movie does not show how much and how long it actually takes to create equality. Overall, Hairspray shows the prevalence of racism in society and the need for change. While equality takes time and determination, it is obtainable if people work together to fight for the common goal. 

Ebert, Roger. “Hairspray Movie Review & Film Summary (2007): Roger Ebert.” Hairspray Movie Review & Film Summary (2007) | Roger Ebert, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hairspray-2007.

Shankman, Adam, director. Hairspray. 2007.

Schools Remain Open On Jewish Holidays, Such As Yom Kippur

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Meredith Photis- Diary Of Systemic Injustices

Yom Kippur is the Jewish holiday in which individuals fast to repent for their sins. Being that angels do not eat, it is believed that in order to be angelic, Jews can not eat for the day. Yom Kippur falls on Sunday, September 27- Monday, September 28th this year. As a freshman, this is the first year me and my friends are celebrating the holidays away from home. As we planned for the holiday several of my friends realized that they have a midterm the same day. My roommate was told that her Sociology 1100 midterm would be taking place that Monday. This meant students would have to fast and take their test at the same time. Fasting already made people feel Nauseous, now individuals had to exert more energy and still try to do well on their exam. 

How could they expect Jewish students to be able to concentrate on such important assignments, such as a Midterm, when they were not even allowed to eat? This put Jewish students at a disadvantage. Unlike their peers, students would be unable to concentrate on their exam. Every other student would be able to eat and feel good going into the test, but no one cared how Jewish students would feel. This affects many Jewish individuals, not only in Ohio State University, but every other university that does not take off for the holiday. This can be seen as an outward example of a lack of empathy for minority religions and people throughout schools. Luckily, after many frustrated students emailed the professor, the date of the midterm was changed. This professor had understood this problem, but that does not mean other professors and schools followed in his lead. Students had to fight this injustice until change was implemented. This scheduling was inconsiderate of diversity in the classroom. 

Jewish students can be seen as the “other” in Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, “Introduction”.  Jewish people are a minority in America, making people believe and treat them as though they are less important. While Jews did not “volunteer to become the object, the inessential”(de Beauvoir), they were placed in this role due to their differences. Jews lack of respect and importance in society was highlighted when their religious needs were not met. Yom Kippur is a yearly holiday, but school districts and colleges do not recognize the importance of the holiday in making their schedules. People did not care if they put Jewish students at a disadvantage. 

Attached is a picture of a syllabus from an anonymous student at Ohio State. In the picture, one can see a Midterm placed on Monday, September 28th, the day of Yom Kippur. Furthermore, I attached a link to a similar story about a Father whose children’s extracurricular classes were not closed for Jewish holidays, but are closed for other religions holidays. The father explains how Jewish holidays are virtually ignored. 

https://forward.com/life/432838/yom-kippur-off/

 

Week 6 Context Research Presentation-Meredith Photis

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By Meredith Photis

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is based on Satrapi’s childhood during the Islamic Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. Satrapi explains how individuals’ way of life were altered as the  government structure and rules changed. In order to understand the book it is vital to understand these wars, specifically the role of government in the wars. Both the Islamic Revolution and Iran-Iraq War were in response to power struggles in government. 

 Iran was primarily a monarchy, but due to the Islamic Revolution it became a theocratic democracy. As a monarchy, the government, specifically Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had too much power. This allowed the wealthy to thrive at the expense of the middle and lower class. The Islamic Revolution sought change. There were protests and marches against the Shah, resulting in violence and death. On September 8th, 1978, there was a major protest, known as Black Friday. The government put down the Black Friday protest with full force military tactics. While this killed hundreds of protesters, it also caused the rebellion to grow dramatically. More people began to see the government’s faults and began to switch sides of the war. Ultimately, members in the Iranian army began to refuse to attack the protesters. The Shah tried to make a compromise, but the people were no longer willing to compromise. They decided Ayatollah Khomeini deserved to be in control, with Iran as a theocratic democracy. A theocratic democracy allows a supreme leader and president, which abide by the constitution like a democracy; however, it does not separate the church and state. This political structure provides religious clerics and forefathers with substantial power within the government, while keeping power distributed. 

Ayatollah Khomeini believed that more countries should have the same government structure as Iran. Khomeini wanted to end strong powers such as Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, and establish a democracy. The fight over government in addition to border disputes, started the Iran-Iraq War. The Iran-Iraq War began on September 22, 1980. Iraq had hoped that this would be an easy battle, being that Iran had just ended their revolution and were weak. When Iraq dictator, Saddam Hussein, sent a missile attack to Iran, the war officially began. At first, Iraq was successful in taking over major cities; however, Iran, under the leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini began to regain their territories, creating a stalemate in the war. While the war ended with no winner, it still had great cost to both sides. Iran and Iraq used trench warfare, chemical weapons, and ballistic-missile attack. These tactics resulted in a great loss of money and civilian lives. In the end, both countries agreed to remove their troops from each other’s land and returned the prisoners of war. 

 

Works Cited

Bruno, Greg. “Religion and Politics in Iran.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 19 June 2008, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/religion-and-politics-iran. 

History.com Editors. “Iran-Iraq War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/middle-east/iran-iraq-war. 

“Iranian Revolution.” Iranian Revolution – Academic Kids, academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Iranian_Revolution. 

“Iran–Iraq War Facts for Kids.” Iran–Iraq War Facts for Kids, 14 Sept. 2020, kids.kiddle.co/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War. 

Woods, John E., and Gerald Henry Blake. “The Iran-Iraq War.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 May 2020, www.britannica.com/place/Iraq/The-Iran-Iraq-War.