I Love Lucy in Manifest Destiny

I found it particularly interesting that Duhamel used an 'I Love Lucy' reference in the poem Manifest Destiny. I think it's especially important for highlighting the serious issues and situations that women have to deal with--sterilization, big business, etc, because I Love Lucy is the polar opposite of this situation. The show was an idealization of society and and showed the simple and 'normal' life of Ricky and Lucy. By contrasting these factory workers with Lucy, Duhamel further symbolizes the hardships that less fortunate women have to face. On a related note, in the show, Lucy always wanted to become a famous person, a star. She, in a way, was striving to be an icon--one like Barbie has become and one like the women workers manufacture.

Slicing up the consumption pie

I know we haven't talked about this in lecture yet. But as i turned from manifest destiny to all the other poems about racial identities, i find an obvious link between the former and the latter. By introducing all these racial elements into the barbie dolls e.g. orientalism, changing their skin colors, Mattel is in fact colonizing and hearts and minds of little children across different psychographics - the point Duhamel makes in the last four lines of Manifest Destiny.

A desirable workforce

In reference to the idea of sterilization in lecture on Monday, it made me think of the invention of the 'baby barbie' - Kelly (if I remember correctly). Though such baby barbies exist, a pregnant adult barbie was never produced - probably because its often associated with negative images such as weight gain, vomiting etc. Pregnancy is thus portrayed as something undesirable. In sterilizing the Philippine workers, the manufacturers are creating a desirable working force for themselves.

Pecola and Her Baby

In lecture professor Zimmerman suggested that Pecola's baby was a a product of all madness, history, racism, etc. My question is why did the baby die? It is supposed to represent something? In my mind, when Morrison has the baby die she is sending out a message to the readers. Morrison is trying to say that no one is able to exsist happily/normally when all of this maddness, racism, and hatred exsists in society. People cannot live in a society like this. I wonder, had Pecola not endured so much pain and had someone reversed her maddness would her baby have lived? Would her baby then represent the hope and the future of society when people disregard difference and eliminate racism?

Junior vs. Ricky

I couldn't help but notice the parallels between 'Night Mother and The Bluest Eye. One such example is the relationship between a mother and her child, specifically, the relationship between Geraldine and Junior and Jessie and Ricky. Geraldine is not only a mother to Junior, but she is also a teacher, who shapes Junior's views on the world and people around him. She teaches Junior what is right and what is wrong. Geraldine, in a sense, controlled Junior, which he disliked and funneled his anger on to the cat, which Geraldine adored. In 'Night Mother, Norman shows a mother-child relationship that is opposite to that of Geraldine and Junior. Jessie is frustrated by Ricky's actions. She blames herself for how Ricky turned out. Jessie can't control Ricky. Even thought these two relationships are on two opposite sides of the spectrum, they share a common underlying notion that Geraldine and Jessie still loved Junior and Ricky respectively even if they committed actions that did not match with their mothers' expectations.

Dick and Jane

When first reading the book the Dick and Jane primer in the beginning really threw me off. When Prof. Zimmerman talked about how it represented an idealism of the perfect family, it made more sense. When you take out the spaces and punctuation it all gets jumbled together. I think that is a representation of how the view of a perfect family can be skewed. It's not always what we see. The primer also connects to the flowers the girls plan in an effort to save Pecola's baby. Flowers can be associated with the "ideal" happy family. The flowers don't grow, Pecola's baby is not saved, and of course they don't have an "ideal" happy family.

Media Power

In reading Morrrison's "The Bluest Eye" what struck me most was the results of Pauline's visits to the movies. As in the last novel we read (White Noise), I see another connection to the theme of the media role in shaping individual's lives. Pauline's visits to the movies shapes the way she sees not only herself, but also those around her. "She was never able, after her education in the movies, to look at a face and not assign it some catetgory in the scale of beauty" I would go on to argue that the scale of beauty in which Pauline rates people is based on the white ideals of beauty (as Pauline even tries to look like Jean Harlow a white woman, an attempt to be beautiful). This presents another-- and I feel extrememly powerful-- reason as to why the black characters in this novel find it difficult to view themselves as pretty/ beautiful.By being bombarded by the white perception of beauty, and living in a society dominated by white people it becomes difficult to view black as beautiful. Pauline also comments: "Them pictures gave me a lot of pleasure, but it made coming home hard..." thus suggesting the power media has in influencing individual's daily lives. Pauline is not able to live satisfied with what she has a result of images she's shown in movies suggesting what she has is undesireable/ unacceptable.

When you think about who is in control over the large media conglomerations existing today (white males)....I believe it becomes easy to see why there are still many negative stereotypes regarding black people (and other persons of color).

(BTW. I know that the movies are not considered Media, but I felt connection could be made???)