Correct 2nd Youtube clip

Whoops, sorry! Although I could have sworn I did it correctly, my blog below put one Youtube clip up twice! Here, hopefully, is the second (and to my mind, best) one....!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh2w_0NUtC4&feature=related

The deception of work and fulfilment of the middle class in Richard Yates "Revolutionary Road" and Arthur Miller's "Death of a Saleman"

After watching and then reading 'Revolutionary Road' I thought another text which was worth looking at was Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' as although set slightly earlier and not strictly speaking in suburbia, I thought there were several comparisons. I therefore based my presentation on examining what these middle class aspirant characters felt about their lives - Was it a shallow existence? Was home and leisure promised in all the adverts 'a big fat lie?' I have chosen the book version of 'Revolutionary Road' which I believe has more subtleties and the 1985 film version of Death of Salesman as I think the flashbacks in the play are easier to understand visually on screen. Although Miller and Yates wrote fiction, it was interesting in researching background to discover that Miller wrote Willy Loman from a relative of his (Uncle Manny I believe) and Frank Wheeler was eerily like Yates himself - he was that man who went to Paris with his family.

I was particularly intrigued by the two characters who did not survive - April Wheeler and the salesman himself, Willy Loman. Was there something about them? Was their self deception too great? Studying both texts a striking element was a certain level of deception of most of the characters with a 'class as lifestyle' belief that a certain middle class respectibility would make everything wonderful when actually amongst some it breeds frustration and doubt, banality, dull work and constantly buying into the lifestyle.

Since Revolutionary Road has already been discussed previously, for those of you not familiar with Death of a Salesman, please look up a synoposis online. I found this one had a good summary:
http://summarycentral.tripod.com/deathofasalesman.htm

To give you a further idea, here are 2 useful Youtube clips.
In the first, Willy is playing cards with his friend and neighbour Charley. Willy's brother Ben appears - but is he real or a figment of his imagination, since he is everything Willy is not? There is a flashback outdoors, to when they could see countryside and the boys were in High School. What do you make of Ben's comments about walking into and out of the jungle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY-FyfpELfg&feature=related

In the second, towards the end, in this powerhouse performance from John Malkovich, Biff understands who he is, cannot live the lie his father is making him live - but somehow Willy doesn't seem to understand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY-FyfpELfg&feature=related

Presentation on work as play

I thought as we have looked at the views of the working class and the middle class workers of America I wanted to have a look at different viewpoint of work in America and that is the idea of work as fun. My presentation will be looking at the idea suggested by Jude in the handbook about the idea of the IT industry providing a life of both work and pleasure.

i'll be looking at what it is like to work at google and facebook, and how this relates to the values of work and fulfillment. From what i have examined they are not conventional work places, and they market their jobs as fun, exciting and innovative. I will compare these ideas to that of the themes that we have studied this module and also look at the downside to working at these so called "perfect" jobs.

Also i will be looking at the article from the keywords book- "Modern" by Chandan Reddy and seeing how this fits in with the idea of the "innovative workplace"

Here is a short video on what it is like to work at google-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOZhbOhEunY

Presentation on crossing over class boundaries represented within the films Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan

The topic for the presentation will discuss highlights the US as a society that has class and social structures in place despite the myth that the US is a classless society. Using films such as Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan these will provide the emphasis that in order to rise up the social and class structure put in place, then you have to change your physical appearance and act according to customs in that social class. In mirroring the way the upper class act, they become transformed into a new identity, leaving their past one behind. Drawing upon Ehrenreich comments also, I will comment upon how the working class are often ‘invisible’ to higher classes and have to disguise themselves or change their appearance in order to be noticed.

Both these films are from a post feminist context and it will also discuss the dominant theme of patriarchy holding the power over these women, which suggests how they are still the dominant gender. The films imply that the only reason these woman are able to ascend up the career ladder or class status is because of their interest and money put into ‘making over’ them. This will thus be critiqued, as it implies that without the ‘hero’ saving them from the poor and working class status, they would not have changed and stayed at their low level struggling. It is because of the male focus that the women are the ones adjusting to suit his needs and his world.

The Working Poor

The presentation will look at the working poor in the United States and the extent to which they go unnoticed in modern socity. First of all I would like you to take 5 minutes to watch this video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2008/jan/23/america.poverty detailing the plight of those in America who barely scrape by whilst working menial jobs, or in some cases, unable to work due to injury; but do not have sufficient, if any, medical insurance. This gives a first-hand account of how difficult life can be on the breadline.

I will be discussing some issues raised by Barbara Ehrenreich in Nickel and Dimed regarding her experiences of trying to scrape by in low-wage America and the ways in which low-wage Americans are often trapped by the glass ceiling due to a lack of Education.

I will also discuss the extent to which poverty goes unnoticed in the USA, and look at some traditional attitudes towards poverty in order to create a framework for which to answer the question as to whether Americans beleive that poverty is the fault of the individual or of the society in which they exist

Sam B presentation

The presentation will focus on the lack of fulfilment within the work place in the movies Revolutionary Road(2008) and Fight Club (1999). The financial stability obtained by both parties within each movie doesn't provide them with the desired level of fulfilment both suffering a dissatisfaction with the monotony of their everyday lives. The family in Revolutionary Road exemplifies a family living the American Dream.

One defining difference between the movies is that they are both set at different times, the primary differences here only tend to be in relation to aspirations one would crave for influenced by the changing in social ideologies or trends. This also helps to define the ways in which the individuals involved intend to solve their problems. Revolutionary Road tends to follow a more conventional course in order to find their fulfilment, associated with the American dream by moving to France believing that will provide the answers they are looking for, ironic that they are intend to more to France to find their dream when many come to America to find theirs. Fight Club on the other hand discovers avenues in which the main character can find his fulfilment through far more unconventional but debatable more contemporary methods.

The ways in which the individuals attempt to achieve their desired level of happiness within their lives will be discussed along with reasons for these. The changes within the characters throughout the movies will be used to asses these changes in their life and whether this has any effect on them, showing examples of incidents which would fulfill an individuals desires.

Sam B on Tichi

Tichi identifies Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed as a great example of a contemporary muckraker novel as it not only identifies the "could look no way but downward" mentality described by John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress of the then muckracker, but also as an example of how this gap between the rich and the poor is still huge, with few signs of change. Tichi also identifies how Ehrenreich's admittance that she wasn't living without any cushions or comforts as helping to make the experience more real and believable for the reader. Finally the quantitative facts such as wage per hour in relation to what the employers are receiving found by Ehrenreich helped to show a definite corruption or injustice within the system.

Tichi doesn't so much change my understanding of Nickel and Dimed but highlights another level of the novel that I didn't focus on, or at least remember, as much before. Similarly to Christine when reading the novel I was very focused on getting the individual facts and incidents Ehrenreich had un-earthed treating the novel almost like crime fiction in the sense that I wanted to collect all the facts and add them together to create my conclusion. Thinking back the emotional connection, identified by Tichi made the reading of the novel fairly easy meaning I could engage with it possibly even relate to it more. Sam and Jo's insight into the working-poor being "unseen and invisible" is a very astute point as you would hope if the powers that be within America could see or chose to see these levels of poverty they would seek to solve the problem, especially within today's contemporary society.

Tichi

Cecelia Tichi recognizes Nickel and Dimed as a significant, modern outlook on "muckracking". As Tichi states Ehrenreich enters into these visions of muckracking in america to once again show the harsh reality of the underpaid and overworked in the US. Tichi identifies that Ehreneich raises the issues that have been seen in relatable literature such as in The Jungle. But this time it is the contemporary worker in the reality of the 21st century US. Tichi shows us that Ehrenreich is bringin up issues that relate to basic human rights, which are going unnoticed in the American workplace, and the worker in these conditions is the "invisible" of society, to which Tichi also likens to being an inmate in prison.

I think that Tichi's view on Erenreich is to the point and exaclty how Erereich would want her work to be percieved. Tichi helped me again view the book in terms of the bigger issues, with human rights and the gap between the rich and the poor, but it is also about the narrative and how it attracts a reader to either see a different way of life, or maybe in some cases highlighting relatable situations.

Tichi’s assessment of Ehrenreich

Tichi’s assessment of Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed observes it as a contemporary muckraker novel that echoes the precedent initial writers of this genre such as Upton Sinclair, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell. Tichi notes that Enrenreich’s novel amongst many others who have contributed to this insightful genre highlights contemporary society issues in unfair paid work and the harsh living conditions people below the poverty line thus have to endure in order to struggle to survive. This book amongst many others in its contemporary era is used as an example to provide the exposé of a capitalist America that is profiting unjustly( in any form of human rights), off the victims of the poor labour force in America. As described by Tichi “they deserve a corporate culture that is not willing to sacrifice people in the pursuit of profits.” This thus raises the realization that America is in a terrible state of a split nation between the desperate poor, and the excessive rich, which can and should be changed seeing that it is one of the most richest nations globally.

What Tichi highlights having not read the text since year one is that I initially didn’t read the book as being ‘melodramatic’, to me I was engrossed in the narrative as it being represented as a documentary text, and oversaw the fact that Ehrenreich speaks out and “doubles both as narrator and as central character.” The feelings of frustration with the inadequate political and social system in place to try and stop people from suffering below the poverty line, transforms the narrative from an investigative document to comments that expose the angry and disappointed sentiment by Ehrenreich. As described by Tichi, “Barbara the character, lets loose her feelings in a broadly satirical barrage that reinforces nickel and dimed as civic melodrama.” However, there is obviously a reason why it was written with an angle. Otherwise for it to be a dull factual insight, no one would connect emotionally to the atrocities that Ehrenreich exposes and the book would not be considered to be published, as there would be a lack of interest in buying it. Further, Ehrenreich would not have been as successful making it on the top sellers list, having reached out to so many people interested in what she had revealed.
With the insights into the inequality of people’s living conditions, muckraker novels have been successful with its ability to have such an impact on their audience and change the political and social policies in practice. Tichi thus emphasised the importance of this, and without such stylish and emotional writing from other previous muckraker novels, which connected to audiences over one hundred years before, such reform would not have been taken into action. One important resultant to the muckraker genre is Roosevelt reacting to Sinclair’s novel, which introduced the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.
In considering the reaction to what happened then, it makes me question whether the political use of these texts are not as effective now as they have been in the past, when Sinclair’s book emphasised and propagated the need for socialism. It seems like whilst people are easy to frown and feel sorry for the poor, they are however not willing to protest much on their behalf, despite the minor protests by students in the ‘janitors for justice’ campaign. What difference have these texts really made in comparison to their predecessors? Such an example of people’s non conformity to make a difference to the poor can be perceived in the debate over Obama’s health reform where there is much hostility nationwide for this service industry to be changed in favour of low income citizens.

Sam W on Tichi

Tichi assesses Ehrenreich's work as being a significant contribution to the modern day world of Muckraking, as it paved the way for television documentaries to be made, giving the general public a view on how such problems are evident in the USA, and also for students to protest in the "Justice for Janitors" scheme, which is an example of how the book has paved the way for young people to become politically active on social issues. Tichi also discusses how Ehrenreich had started her own website whereby regular blue-collar workers can send in their own stories and memoirs, many of which are described as being well-written, suggesting that many people who are stuck in dead end low wage menial jobs such as the ones partaken in by Ehrenreich, maybe educated to a better level than required for low-wage work or are naturally more skilled and could be in better paid, more rewarding jobs but instead are trapped in the cycle of poverty and cannot escape.

I found Tichi's work useful in reminding me of some of the anecdotal moments of the novel, as having not re-read it since the first year, it was not fresh in my mind. If anything, Tichis work has reinforced for me how significant and compelling Nickel and Dimed actually is. I also, along with Jo, found Tichi's point about how the working class are invisible to be of interest; Tichi discusses how they poor can masqurade their poverty behind clothing from "consignement stores and walmart" (Nickel and Dimed, 216) and can fit in with the middle-class; whereas the economic status of the poor of Garland's expose is evident from the way they dress and their appearance. The major point I would draw from this is that although a class divide exists in contmporary America, it is not as apparent as 100 years ago; the working-poor in the USA are, as Tichi describes, "unseen and invisible"

Tichi on Ehrenreich

Tichi sees Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" as very significant in modern muckracking investigation at the start of the twenty first century. She cites documentary TV programmes which were inspired by Ehrenreich's undercover investigative stint spending a month each in low wage jobs around America. The on-going significance in her book has meant it has been read in book clubs and has inspired protest action, for instance with a group of 2001 Harvard undergraduates occupying a building for a "Justice for Janitors" campaign, which successfully won them living wage and benefit provisions. Tichi places Ehrenreich as the successor to Upton Sinclair, George Orwell and Josiah Flynt Willard's books and articles of the turn of the previous century and the 1930s Depression era, in raising awareness of the plight of low wage earners and illegal and bordering-on-illegal work practices. Although America is no longer industrialised as before, Ehrenreich exposes not so much dangerous and unsanitary processes but, in the service economy of post-industrial America, demonstrating that working all the hours possible, basic living conditions can barely be achieved, along with criminalising 'jumping through hoops' inductions and easy lay-off from jobs, while giving a veneer that the person is an important cog in the whole machine. Tichi says that Ehrenreich is part of a long history of investigative writing that speaks for those that can't, highlighting their plight and, with Ehrenreich's website nickelanddimed.net allows the type of low wage workers she worked amongst to be aware of each other and share their stories/difficulties. Tichi sees her as being on the crest of the wave of interest in the reality TV of the current media era.

Tichi, for me, highlighted or made clearer a few things about N & D that I had only half thought about. When first read, I considered the workers as just 'the poor,' but having since learnt how many Americans, who barely technically are above poverty level, see themselves as middle class I read Tichi's comment "The poor are invisible as they themselves are undercover, passing as middle class" in a different way now in terms of relating to the 'characters' in the book. On first reading I did find Ehrenreich's emotion and rage as veering on being unprofessional in trying to be serious about what she was putting across, but on reflection a tedious figure/statistic-laden report would have been tedious; to grab attention and be a bestseller you have to appeal to everyone. Tichi highlights that this occasional emotion is needed to strike a good balance between narrator and character so it is part memoir and part report. As it is, I see that Ehrenreich's science and social science background has provided enough ' serious footnoting' to back up her assessment whilst grabbing the attention of her readership, galvanising them to think with, as Tichi says, "A sense of social urgency." While I was aware that cleaners, waitresses, etc are often overlooked/invisible and when they are seen, looked down on, I was taken by Tichi's comment "It is the two Barbara's who cry 'Shame!' at the book buying readers who have the time to read Nickel and Dimed in part because they - no, we - hire others to clean our homes and serve us, wait on us." I thought this really brought it home that we are all guilty within the modern capitalist system, we all have the time to read such a book and that we all need to look to ourselves and mores to the point look to them and really see these invisible people and make a stand on their behalf.