Abortion and the Symbolic Interaction Paradigm
Soc/100 Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis Amy SOC/100 November 7, 2011 Robert Murray Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis The show I chose is called The Big Bang Theory. The show is a comedy show themed around a group of nerdy scientists who are neighbors with a beautiful outgoing waitress. One of the nerds has a romantic interest in the neighbor but thinks he has no chance with her as she is out of his league. There is definite social inequality here as the nerds see themselves below the neighbor’s status in regards to relationships and finding love.
Some scenes that apply to the social theme are when you see all the “nerds” at work it is clear that they are in the science field. There are microscopes, periodic tables, beakers, and math equations on chalk and dry erase boards. The “nerds” defiantly dress the part of the nerd. One wears thick black rimmed glasses, another is tall, skinny, and wears his t-shirts tucked into his pants. One of the nerds is from India and seems shy and does not talk to any female counterpart, or any other female for that matter.
The last “nerd” has a bowl haircut and it seems he tries too hard to fit in with a crowd he will never fit into. He wears leopard silk pajamas to bed and has a bowl haircut. There is defiantly a leader of the group as the other nerds follow him around and he seems to do a bigger portion of the talking. The female neighbor is very confident in the way she walks and dresses at times a bit provocatively. When the neighbor is around the nerd with the glasses tends to get nervous and a bit looser in his posture.
He almost seems to cower to her, almost as if to hide from her when she is in a room. He clearly adores her with the way he looks at her when she is around. He does talk to her however; she tends to dominate the conversations. He seems to enjoy being around her and talking to her even though he is very nervous. The female neighbor also surprisingly seems to enjoy talking to the nerd in the glasses as she isn’t as closed off to him as she is with the others. She looks at him when he talks to her and she isn’t crossing her arms or turning away from him.
It seems though that they do not hang out socially outside of their apartment building except for the times the “nerds” eat at the restaurant the neighbor works at. In some of the situations I see the nerd with the glasses and the neighbor it leads me to believe that something romantic will happen eventually. I think when people look at relationships they tend to think each of the individuals as equals socially. Most people seem to think that couples come from the same social circles and it is not often you would see a young beautiful woman with a shy science nerd.
The same goes for say an older man or woman with a younger person. Many people would say it’s inappropriate for older people to date those younger than them, while others think opposites attract. So when it comes to the science nerd and the beautiful neighbor I hope they get the chance to have a relationship with each other, maybe it will take them out of their norm and give them a chance to experience something new. Things would be pretty boring if we were all the same and people didn’t shake things up a bit!
Using the Symbolic Interaction and the Cybernetics Theory
ST. PAULS UNIVERSITY-NAIROBI CAMPUS NAME: SAKWA M. JAMES ADM NO. : 0915/11 UNIT NAME: THEORIES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT: REACTION PAPER BASED ON THE MOVIE THE BLINDSIDE USING THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTION AND THE CYBERNETICS THEORY PRESENTED TO: MR. J. NDAVULA Use of Symbolic-Interaction Approach “Symbolic Interactionism” is a concept developed by, George Hebert Mead (Griffin, 2009). Symbolic Interactionism has three core premises which lead “to the creation of a person’s self and socialization into a larger community” (Griffin, 2009).
It is a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. When we use symbolic-interaction theory with this movie we see how Michael is a homeless teenager trying to fit in. We see when he goes to school he struggles to fit in and how he stays quiet throughout the day. You can also use the S. I. theory on how Micheal when he was homeless he had ratty clothes and not many personal belongings. A S. I. theorist would look at Michael and see how he doesn’t have a bed and is staying in the Tuohy house on a couch as a symbol of homelessness and poverty.
Lastly when using this theory you see how the movie portrays and gives the homeless symbols of run down houses and having drugs and illegal activity going on in the movie. For instance having no bed or personal home for Michael Oher is a symbol of poverty. Perceptions “Humans act toward people based on the meanings they assign to those people”. Most people within the context of the Blindside seemed to write off Michael Oher. There were some who saw him as a young, African American male who was slow in the head, poorly educated and unkempt.
Those would include, at least in the beginning of his time at the private school, most of his teachers and most of the others students. Because they ascribed to Michael their own beliefs, they never gave him a chance to reveal himself. There was an interesting piece that Michael wrote one day in class where he stated, I look and I see white everywhere. White walls, white floors and a lot of white people. The teachers do not know I have no idea of anything they are talking about. I do not want to listen to anyone especially the teachers.
They are giving homework and expecting me to do the problems on my own. I have never done homework in my life. I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror and say “this is not Michael Oher. ” There was also the group who wondered why Mrs. Touhy would take in Michael. This group mostly consisted of her tea-time compatriots in the ritzy area of town. They were convinced that what Mrs. Touhy was doing “was so nice” and asked her if it was another one of those “charities” of hers. They saw Michael as a one-way recipient of charitable donations.
They saw Michael as a tax write-off. Because of their viewpoints, they never could quite understand that Michael was changing Mrs. Tuohy’s life, and that she loved him. It tells how the Tuohy’s came to reach out to Michael Oher and his life was changed, as was theirs. The movie was filled with excellent acting from all members of the cast with Sandra Bullock leading the way. This is a movie you leave impacted emotionally. The movie does show that it was not just the Tuohy’s involved in changing Michael’s life but many choices along the way.
There was “Big Tony” Henderson, Mrs. Beasly, and Miss Sue all who made choices that helped Michael. Now the reality is that the movie is powerful but the story alters from the facts to fit the director’s vision. The full details of the story can be read in detail in Michael Lewis’s book: The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. A sampling of the story can be found in a . REFERENCES: Netter,G,Kosove,A. & Johnson,. B(Producers) & Hancock,(Director). (2009) Blind Side: United States:Warner Bro Pictures.
