Author Archives: Rachel Ridnor

Rize

Posted on February 15, 2011

“Rize” by the famous photographer and director David LaChapelle, is an amazing documentary that showcases the dancing culture of South Central LA. This culture is portrayed as the salvation for a community that is riddled with crime, drugs, and oppression.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Introduction to Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, Social Problems, Social Stratification | Tagged , , , ,

Happy Together

Posted on February 8, 2011

Most of the media I have seen that showcase a  romantic relationship between a homosexual couple portray in a  stereotypical way. For example the show Modern Family, which is groundbreaking in that it features a homosexual couple as one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender, Introduction to Sociology, Marriage and Family, Sexuality | Tagged , , ,

Brothers

Posted on September 23, 2010

Total institutions -such as rehabilitation clinics, mental institutions, or in the case of the movie Brothers (2009), being a Prisoner of war- have lasting effects on the people who leave them. After a person leaves a total institution, it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Introduction to Sociology, Marriage and Family, Social Problems | Tagged , , , ,

Super High Me

Posted on September 16, 2010

Super High Me (2007) is a documentary that follows Doug Benson -a comedian whose stand up revolves around marijuana use- as he spends 30 days without using marijuana and 30 days consuming the marijuana non-stop. The goal of his experiment … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Problems | Tagged , , , ,

Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women

Posted on September 13, 2010

Many people hold the belief that advertising does not affect them, stating that they are the exception to its influence.  However, Jean Kibourne challenges this assumption in her shocking 1999 documentary called Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women. … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender, Introduction to Sociology, Social Psychology, Social Stratification | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Brown Eyes vs. Blue Eyes

Posted on September 12, 2010

Brown Eyes vs. Blue Eyes (1968) is a famous experiment done by Jane Elliot, where she gives her third grade students “a first-hand experience in the meaning of discrimination” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/).  She does this by dividing her class superior and inferior … Continue reading →

Posted in Introduction to Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, Social Problems, Social Stratification | Tagged , , , , ,

Standford Prison Experiment

Posted on September 8, 2010

In the post Holocaust era, the question of how normal people could commit such horrid acts to one another haunted the American psyche.  Like Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo (1971), wanted to see how normal people could commit such horrid acts. … Continue reading →

Posted in Introduction to Sociology, Social Problems, Social Psychology | Tagged , , , , ,