Vox, 6:26 ... Skin whitening has proven to be damaging, physically and mentally. But sales are booming. The market is predicted to be worth $31.2 billion by 2024.
Modern Slavery
According to new figures, it is estimated that 35 million people are suffering under slavery. It is a booming global business, relying on oppression and exploitation. The film shows the many forms slavery can take in today’s world: from political imprisonment, to child labor to the forcible recruitment of child soldiers as well as more classical forms of physical and economic exploitation.
50 Shades of Beige
Sociology in Wall-E (2008)
"Wall-E as Sociological Story Telling" -- Pop Culture Detective, 2017, 15:25 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1-vPQKwXbY
Video's Description: "Pixar’s Wall-E is a masterpiece of animated filmmaking about two adorable robots falling in love, though I’d argue it also serves as an excellent example of sociological storytelling. Social systems are one of the most important, and most misunderstood, concepts in my work on media and masculinity. So in this video essay I use Wall-E's Axiom star liner (and the board game Monopoly) to illustrate how social systems operate in our culture".
Countertops and Conspicuous Consumption
"How granite countertops took over American kitchens" -- Vox, 2017, 6:16 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXyHRnDNH64
Expensive granite countertops are examined as a status symbol. In my apartment the countertops are cheap white laminate. While I don't necessarily care about them being low quality, whoever decided that white is a good color for countertops obviously never used their kitchen. I shouldn't have to deep bleach my counters after every little spill... Just sayin...
Science, Intuition, Experience, and Tradition
Equipment Reviews: Best Cutting Boards -- America's Test Kitchen, 2013, 3:10 -- https://youtu.be/lPyhS2LX_Co
I've been looking for a way to incorporate America's Test Kitchen into my classes and believe their equipment reviews are an excellent example of competing sources of knowledge.
From my own experience, every cutting board I've ever owned cracked and warped. Although I must admit I bought these cheap, experience would tell me to purchase the thickest, heaviest board available. My intuition tells me a different truth. If I was interested in purchasing a new cutting board, I would be attracted to the most vibrant colors and the sexiest design. Intuition also tells me that the most expensive board would be the best board. Tradition tells me a different truth as well. I can vaguely remember the cutting board my parent's owned and if I wanted traditional advice, I can call my parents and ask for their suggestion as to the best board. But a scientific approach to "the best cutting board" reveals a different truth than these former sources of knowledge. Gadget Guru Lisa McManus shows us her sample, method, and results from testing a variety of cutting boards, and the winner of this evidence-based approach differs from what my experience, intuition, and tradition would tell me. The best cutting board isn't the heaviest, sexiest, or most expensive, and the video above proves this with empirical data and methodological transparency. Another video that works with these 4 competing sources of truth is their review of collanders.
The Music Doesn't Matter
Popstar Factory -- Vice News Tonight (HBO), 2017, 6:14 -- https://youtu.be/avp4a-WKIRU?t=16m43s
Capitalism has a peculiar way of stripping meaning from cultural arts. Here we see a rationalized process to produce musical icons where the music is the least important thing. It's almost genius-- if you can build up enough buzz around a "product" by appealing to popular trends (i.e., tennis, genderless) then you're likely to make a profit from merchandising and the initial hype.
Max Weber would lose it if he saw this. The dream of becoming a popstar is now disenchanted and the popstars themselves are now trapped in the iron cage.
Aspirational Lifestyles
How TV Ruined Your Life: Aspiration (Episode 3) -- BBC, 2011, 29:19 -- https://youtu.be/tNGK9ni4aSY
It's a shame Americans don't know about Charlie Brooker aside from his Black Mirror series on Netflix. But this sociological critique of aspirational imagery in the media is brilliant, hilarious, and is certainly understandable to an American audience. This episode brings up concepts such as social class, status symbols, conspicuous consumption, and focuses on how the false consciousness a la media creates misery in our lives. Television socializes us to become obsessed with the perverted rat race of opulence, celebrity, and unrealistic standards of beauty. We now aspire to a way of life manufactured by the media and have seemingly forgotten how fabricated such an ideal is.
The Pepsi Ad and Social Protest
Yesterday on the Internet: The Pepsi Ad -- Vice News Tonight (HBO), 2017, 3:00 -- https://youtu.be/VyIqsVkJtx0
A hilarious satire on the recent Pepsi advertisement which appropriated social movements. It is important to remember the terrible violence and unrest protesters often face that is notably absent from the ad.
China's Rich Girls
China's Rich Girls (101 East) -- Al Jazeera, 2017, 25:40 -- https://youtu.be/MFJBgsr939c
A video detailing the extravagant lives of wealthy young Chinese women living in Canada. The main theme here is the conspicuous consumption of status symbols made possible by being born into a family of high socioeconomic status. This can also be seen through a dramaturgical perspective as staging behavior is rather prominent here, especially surrounding their image online and on television.
Winning at Capitalism, Losing at Life?
Fleeing South Korea (101 East) -- Al Jazeera, 2016, 24:28 --https://youtu.be/AT2wzQq7kx0
An interesting and contemporary look at South Korean immigrants in the United States. We learn that 88% of young South Koreans (millennials) want to leave the country, but why? The answer seems to be in the unbearably competitive (i.e., long) work schedule. It appears that South Korea's neoliberal economy has created unattainable standards of materialism and an unsatisfying work/life balance. As a result, many young South Koreans see the social status structure of America as more desirable-- a view made more interesting when we consider how many Americans feel that Europeans have better policies towards vacations, parental leave, shift length, and more.
Racist Technology
Color Film Was Built For White People -- Vox, 2015, 4:39 -- https://youtu.be/d16LNHIEJzs
Despite the popular view that technological advancement will one day solve all of our social problems, here we can clearly see that technology reflects and perpetuates inequalities in a society. The focus of this clip is on color film but it concludes with how our cultural bias for lighter skin is embedded in modern facial recognition technology.
Rational Living with WeLive
Vice News Tonight: Living the WeLife -- Vice Media, 2016, 3:44 -- https://youtu.be/2QCySNv7cxA
Max Weber would have a fit if he saw this for here we see the iron cage of rationality applied to the home. WeWork is a company which applied McDonaldization to the work/office space and now is branching out into the home/apartment market with WeLive. The residents- in this rationally-ordered "commune" seem to view domestic life as just another burden best taken care of by some dispassionate expert. The goal seems to be a aimed at creating a maximum-efficiency environment where one can fully and completely devote their energies to their work. For $4,875 per month you can enjoy a dorm-like environment where your physical space and living schedule has been planned in a manner that can be called "the WeWork circle of life".
The Cost of Gendered Objects
Do Men or Women Pay More? Gender Pricing Exposed -- CBC, 2014, 15:36 -- https://youtu.be/vKvHB5RLf3Q
A look at the price differences between men's and women's items in Walmart, Target, and Hudson's Bay. Spoiler-- Women pay more across the board (this has been called a Pink Tax). We also get to see a marketing team create fictional gendered toothpaste and are given information as to how we can combat gender price discrimination. Although this video is from Canada it touches on New York City's legislation barring such discrimination. Yet laws can't solve this issue alone as a 2015 study from the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs found that, on average, women's products were 7% more expensive than similar products for men. This more recent study is discussed in another short video from CBS News.
Russell Brand and Marxism
Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe -- BBC, 2015, 4:11 -- https://youtu.be/DEjbFBmRgHA
A brilliant satire on comedian Russell Brand's communist/socialist politics. Students generally recognize Brand (formerly married to singer Katy Perry) and although this is humorous marxist rhetoric, it is nevertheless true. In the Truevolution episodes, Brand analyzes commercials (aka "mind control pellets") demonstrating how they preserve the status quo of inequality and social oppression. The language used here is particularly impressive and serves as a fine example of the conflict perspective applied to everyday life.
Introduction-- https://youtu.be/anc51ErPBxg?t=2m47s
Truevolution 1 (commercials & Ikea): https://youtu.be/bSmP4q3oQ6c?t=18m22s
Truevolution 2 (kids shows): https://youtu.be/3An8mzU1HGE?t=9m40s
Russell Brand as Prime Minister: https://youtu.be/EKDKt0lh3Y0
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0520y52