The text I will be analyzing is the movie "Zoolander," which was released in 2001. "Zoolander" was written by Drake Sather and Ben Stiller, who also directed the movie. I believe the target audience for this movie was high school and college kids. The genre of the movie is comedy. In my essay, I will argue that "Zoolander" plays on the idea that men are dumber than women, who are logical and more intelligent. The story of the movie is that Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), a dumb male model, feels threatened by the new and popular Hansel, and after his friends and fellow models are killed in a freak gasoline fight, he announces his retirement from modeling. However, he is persuaded by Mugatu, a fashion designer, to lead their Derelicte fashion show. Little does Derek know that he has been brainwashed into killing the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Along the way, he befriends his former rival, Hansel, and Matilda, a reporter who defamed him

my essay proposal is on the tv series "the office." The episode "Diversity" demostrates many americans lack of knowledge on the subject of diversity.

My view towards the show have changed little. this show is all about the audition people and try to find the one who can sing and perform best. i found one important thing about this show, and the one also people talking about the most, is appearance. i think appearance is very important too. If there are 2 singer on the stage, you will like the one who has better look. The singer as a job is a entertainment it is big advantage that they have good look. Althought the singing is the most important thing in competition, look is the 2nd important thing.

Most people agreed with how the judges look at appearance and I do too, however I noticed that near the "end of the day" they show clips really fast of other people that made it to Hollywood that they didn't show the auditions and some of those people I saw walking out didn't have a perfect appearance. So i'm thinking that maybe the judges will sometimes look at more than appearance, but that's not what makes good TV ratings so they just don't show those auditions. Maybe, maybe not, it's just a thought.

After reading the article I definitely look at shows in a different way when analyzing, this article makes you think not just about the show, but the stuff around the show. Like what is on before and after, what kind of commercials they show, how the commercials relate to the show. Another gender role I realized about "House" is that there is only one female doctor in the show, and three male doctors. I don't remember what kinds of commercials were shown during this episode, but I would think they are directed towards men because of the fact that "House" is more popular among males than females.

This is actually the first time that I have ever watched American Idol because I never pay close attention to American shows even thought I’ve heard about them from my friends. Even though a person doesn’t necessarily need the background of this show to interpret the message behind the show, I find that it’s always better to know its background. After the reading, I realized that the focus of my analysis was totally different from the actual focus of the show. I concentrated on relating the American Idol to the positive side of human beings and pointing out that this world is still filled with love and opportunity. However, now that look back and connect American Idol to reality, I see that society pays much more attention toward bad news over the good news and American Idol is one of the best examples. From the text, it talks about the schadenfreude, which applied truly to how the world we living in today. As we all know, when ever there’s something bad going on, the news travels like the speed of light and people are noisy all over it and sadly, good news doesn’t go very far. At least from now on, whenever I watch a show on TV, I will start to think more into why this show is even on the TV; why it’s doing so successful or failing and is it trying to send a warning message to the audiences that people need to be aware of.

After reading the paper, my response has slightly changed. At first, my view towards dramas or movies was that it indirectly implies of sexism by portraying heros, not heroines. Yet, it does seem to depend on the movie or the drama; whatever the writer of the script wants to show to the audience. The plot may be led by the most intelligent, sarcastic and a cold hearted man, Dr. House; however, he wouldn’t have made the plot on going if there weren’t a female victim which attracts the audiences as well. The sad part of the reality that is hard to change is that the weak, powerless victims who get raped or hurt are always a female. Of course the society has changed as time passed and women have more power than before, it is still something that we all should consider. Although all shows or movies must carry a victim to interest the audience, we should try to decrease the victims of poor, powerless women in the society.

I thought a simple show like American Idol was merely for entertainment, but after the reading my opinion has changed dramatically. This singing talent show has revealed a lot about American Pop Culture. Being an International student, I thought America would be different. Since American living standard is high, I guessed only few number of "high" class people would stand in a line, but there were tons of high class people with support of their families. It seems no matter what class you are, everyone stands in line for days to live the American dream. They attempt to fulfill a hopeful, famed future, yet FOX decides to exploit this process for many people by revealing the pain and heartache that many receive after they are denied from getting into Hollywood and the ecstatic joyful behavior of some who made it in. However, this show captures the viewer's attention through the few physically attractive people that are able to sing beautifully and allows the viewers to mock and laugh at the would-be wannabes. Although physical appearance does not seem to dictate who makes it through the show, it is obvious that through previous seasons that only the better looking people advance through the competition. The interview process simply seems to eliminate the less attractive people who are inept and pulls in the competitors who are able to sing, yet also look good on camera.

After reading the article, my response to American Idol did not change at all. As a matter of fact, the article itself helped to back up my analysis. I completely agree with what the three essays we read had to say; for example, one the points made in the reading was made in the first article and it stated that schadenfreude, which is taking pleasure in the mishaps of others, is used constantly on reality television shows to lure in viewers to watch their show. The show American Idol is a classic example. A contestant will show up to an audition to sing and try to become the next American Idol, but what is so appealing about this show is how the person is rejected. We all know who Simon Crowell is. He is the judge that the degrades and humiliates the contestants making them feel unworthy, but yet, that is what makes the show that much more appealing to people and sadistic at the same time.

After reading the three articles, my opinion about my paper didn't really change however I did think that different things I should have consider or observed while watching to show. In one of the articles it discusses sexuality in reality tv shows, which I did notice on American Idol whenever they had attractive people on, they usually made it to the next round and all the really ugly people that came on you almost already knew they were going to be horrible. Another thing I didn't consider was the advertisments. I really didn't think of seeing similarities in the commericials and the show when I was watching it. Commericials are usually the time I get up and walk away and I guess I didn't think about how strongly they are connected and the "underlying message" still continues when the show isn't even on!

After reading my thoughts about the show didn't change; however, I was able to apply it to our culture's history. The meaning behind American Idol, in particular the auditioning episodes, is a just a way for Americans to get pleasure out of other's humiliation and shame. Don't get me wrong, listening to the completely clueless singers and dancers is a good laugh, but shouldn't we feel somewhat bad about this? Take the "big bird" lady from Birmingham for example, not only did the judges criticize her terrible voice, unique ensemble, and the fact that she lied about her age three times, yet she was seen repeatedly reviewed on "idol talk" and the shows recaps simply to humiliate the lady even more, as if one time wasn't enough. It's awful to think we are entertained by watching the painfully bad auditions and anxiously waiting for Simon's blunt, insypathetic remarks; nevertheless, millions of viewers are guilty of this pleasure every week. Similar to our history's past displays of public shame such as the gallows and the scarlet letter, American Idol proves that Americans still enjoy watching others be publically humiliated.

After the reading, I think my views about the show have changed somewhat. I still believe that the show revolves around the harsh criticism of different races on an entertainment show. However, I think I failed to look beyond that. After reading Video Dreams, it is easier for me to look deeper. Looking further in I see a judgement on different appearances rather than strictly on voice. Like mentioned before, if your voice is decent but you look good, you have a better chance of advancing. I watched a bigger woman audition and she was completely made fun of and criticized by her appearance. In all, I think this show judges on appearance. The better looking will advance further.

After reading the article, my response has changed dramatically. I never thought to connect the show to the "adult female audience" specifically. The writers of the show are trying to lure in female viewers with the strong female characters such as Clair Bennet (the strong willed cheerleader with the power to heal herself) and Niki Sanders (a good mother who always manages to get food on the table and pay the bills). Like the article says, though, these women have to have their weaknesses too. Clair, a daddy's girl, lies to her father, under the influence of a man she barely knows and Niki cannot control her other side named Jessica, who is her selfish and dangerous sister. This is done to attract the feminist female audience without losing the male audience.

Although American Idol is a singing competition, I still believe that they are looking for more than just an amazing voice. If your singing voice is okay but physically a knockout, you will more than likely make it to the next round. Besides ones voice and appearence, the show is looking for someone who has somewhat suffered in their past. The show makes people think that anyone who carry a tune can be the next Christina Aguillera, but in all actuallity, they have to be the total package. I still believe that if it was between one women with an outstanding voice but not gorgeous and another who wasn't as good as the other but was beautiful, the show would go for the second, less talented, woman.

When I tried to watch this show from a deiffernt perspective than only trying to enjoy it by listening to the horrible singers, I noticed that I was part of the American Society that this show can describe. Not only does American Idol showcase bad singers and find America's next star, it also shows that Americans are obsessed with this show because they are looking for immediate success and watch this show as an escape for their normal everyday lives. American Idol also shows that Americans enjoy cheap, crude entertainment and gives advantages to individuals who are better looking than others, even if this is a "singing contest." This type of reality show reveals many things about American society today, even if it may seem that it is only a singing contest. It shows what types of things Americans truly value and how preoccupied Americans are in instant success and fame.

Although my view towards the show did not change after the required reading, it helped and allowed me to expand my analysis further. The reading suggests that the interest that lies within the audience is concentrated in “reality-based programming even when the program is a fiction.” While the show seems more dramatically scripted than it should be, it portrays the realistic situations the world is trying to currently manage such as the excessive rape incidents. I agree with the point the reading makes when it explains that television has been the source for getting information. We often hear rape stories but are never actually aware of the extent it can change one’s life. "House" thoroughly illustrates the severity and reality of rape with the story of Eve (the rape victim). The show effectively presents the importance of the victim revealing and communicating with others about the event despite its atrocious remembrance. I also became aware of a problem America is currently going through and the potential of House resolving this problem. The United States will soon have a shortage of doctors with many doctors who were born in the 1940-1960’s retiring soon. The baby boomers will also need medical care and to do so will require more doctors. An exciting show with both reality and drama, "House" is likely to spark an interest among its audience to become part of the healthcare in the near future.

I think the show House tries to show some kind of equality and how the work world as changed. They have a woman as a boss and the doctors under Dr. House are a woman, African American, and one from a different country. House may give his boss a hard time but it is not because she is woman, he just gives everyone a hard time. He gave the rape victim patient a hard time and she just wanted to talk to him. House most likely came to be this way because of the abuse that he delt with from his dad when he was growing up. His childhood as mentally caused him to push people away with sarcasm and insults. He is afraid to trust someone and let them get emotionally close to him, although the rape victim is able to have him open up but it took a lot of patience. Although House behaves this way, the people around him care about him and he really does care about them too.

HOUSE
After doing the reading my response about the reading has not changed, although I do view some of the actions and events in a different perspective. The first time I analyzed the show I did not notice the strong sexual differences. I agree with the article in how women are represented i.e. the director of the hospital that told Dr. House what to do, but tended to have more supportive roles. The female character that played the most vital role in this episode was a patient that had been raped and subsequently became pregnant. This character who was the main person behind the drama in this drama was in need of help, she attempted to commit suicide and was in need of a lot of assistance. The reading also said that the male character will tend to have some sort of dramatic situation where feminism can be seen but then they will display very strong actions. At first Dr. House seems very tough, he is cocky and arrogant but he knows he is a good doctor, however as the show progresses the female that was raped begins to trust DR. House and makes him display a sensitive side. This kind of drama is made to allow anyone to instantly become instantly involved and interested in the actions of the characters.