Week 5 Analysis

            These days you have to life live to the fullest without getting into trouble with the law.  So many people are taking justice into their own hands.  Slightly due to the economy and lack of police, people feel that they should take crime into their own hands.  But even as we look back in time people have been committing crimes just to get what they need or want.  Some people have always felt that is they need money then rob a bank, or if they are being abused then kill your abuser. But can the courts really give people the justice they deserve regardless of sex or race.

            After reading the article The Killer inside me, by Seth Mnookin, I realized that jail time is a very controversial subject.  In this article Seth Mnookin talks about the life of Wilbert Rideau, in 1961 he is a 19 year old African American bank robber that murdered 2 of the employees of the bank and shot another.  “While incarcerated at Angola, Louisiana’s infamous state penitentiary, Rideau won his jailer’s trust with his good behavior and efforts to improve inmates’ lives” (Mnookin, 2005, 297).  Rideau was sentenced to death three times but because of his good behavior he was recommended for release.  But every time he is recommended the courts overturns it.  As of 2003 Rideau was still in jail behavior very well and still helping other inmates. 

            The next case to think about is the case of the “blue-eyed butcher” (Jakabsson, 2010). This Texas woman, Susan Wright, was sentenced to 25 years in jail due to the murder of her husband in 2003.  “Harris County District Attorneys alleged that Wright tied her husband to their bed during a seduction, dripped hot wax on his body and killed him. Susan Wright claims that she stabbed her husband to death after years of abuse” (Jakabsson, 2010). After 7 years Wright is getting another trail she is hoping for probation. 

            What is the difference with these two cases, in the first case the man is African America in the second case the woman in Caucasian. Even though in the first case the man killed more than one person, he has tried to rehabilitate him and helps those around him.  The woman in the second case has only claimed abuse and continues to justify herself and her actions. 

References

Jakabsson, L. (2010). Texas woman who stabbed husband to death gets second chance at

 sentencing. CNN Justice. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-

            22/justice/Texas.stabbing.resentencing_1_susan-wright-murder-trial-

            sentencing?_s=PM:CRIME

Mnookin, S. (2005). The killer inside me. In R. Browne, Profiles of Popular Culture (pp. 296-299). Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Jouranl Analysis

Reality TV

            Reality television is a genre that people of all ages enjoy to watch, whether it is admitted or not.  Reality television is generally what society views as life.  We as society often watch reality television to find someone to associate with or to watch someone you could never be.  Reality television can last for just one season or multiple seasons. Reality television takes us into the world of the known and unknown. 

            In the book review by Kathleen LeBesco, she talks about different books in one article about the novel, Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched by Mark Andrejevic, it is said that when reality started in 2000, there were claims that it was not really reality TV because it was not “real”.  With the first reality TV being shows like Fear Factor, it is hard to say if it really is “real”. For those of you who do not remember, Fear Factor is the show when people would eat nasty things like cow testacies for money. Since this show reality TV has branched of into many different types.  Reality TV was brought along change television programming to start something new and upbeat. LeBesco states that according to Andrejevic “rather than empowering the people, digital interactivity has ushered in an era of proliferating media mergers and extreme concentration of wealth” (LeBesco, 2003, 1117).  Reality TV did change television but it also showed people how greedy and money hungry we as a society are.  People would sign up for these shows to either further their careers or just for the money.  But as a society why do we like to watch this people exploit themselves for money?

            After reading the article, Keeping it real: Why we like to watch reality dating television shows, by Robert Samuels, I began to realize that we watch reality television because of our own selfish reasons. For dating shows the number one reason that people like to watch reality TV was because “It’s fun to watch other people be rejected” (Samuels, 2007, 195).  We like to escape from the normal lives we live. We do not look at Reality TV as a payday for these people we watch it to see other people be humiliated because that is something that we have to deal with.  We enjoying know that other people go through the same things we do in our day to day lives.

That was the second reason people watch reality TV, “The people on these shows are just like us” (Samuel, 2007, 195). 

            Even though it is argued that reality TV is real because the people are not actors.  Reality TV is controlled just like any other program on television.  “By using real people and placing them real situations, reality television programs are thus able to lull the audience into misperceiving controlled situations as being spontaneous events” (Samuels, 2007, 196).  Reality TV is a genre of television programming that is going to increase due to demand.  We as a society will continue to watch because of the interest in the situations that this people are facing and people will continue to sign up for the money. 

References

LeBesco, K.(2005). Book Review: Reality TV: The art of being watched. Journal of Popular

 Culture, 38(6), 1116-1119. Retrieved from EBSCO database.

Samuels, R. (2007). Keeping it real: Why we like to watch reality dating television shows. In M. Petracca, & M. Sorapure, Common Culture (pp. 193-200). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.