Monthly Archives: March 2020

The videos that I decided to watch were Superman, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmdit. Each video is completely different, but has a unique way of showing displacement in many ways. Sometimes people tend to not get the person like in the video of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmdit. The video is about a girl who looked like she was trapped from society in some dungeon and was there for years. It seems that it was a rescue mission while she was in that dungeon. While she was “rescued” she doesn’t want to go back to where she was before and wants to stay in the city. While she is exploring the city it seems that she is an older woman that acts like a young girl and it doesn’t seem normal to others. This is where displacement comes into play when she tries to interact with people then tends not to get her. When people first interact with her they look confused by her actions. Even though she seems to be a very nice person, with her maturity people don’t want to interact with her. Even though she is trying to find herself in the city it’s hard to adapt because of the mindset she has of her being a little girl. Superman tends to show displacement differently. Most people know Superman, he is one of the most known superheroes ever. In the video, Superman is the one that is being displaced in this. How can superman feel displaced? He is a superhero! It tends to not be the case because Superman originally comes from another planet called Krypton and comes to the world and sees everything different. Tends to probably feel lost. Superman is trying to figure how he uses his powers and how to use his powers to save others powers. Superman tends to work in an office where he pretends to be a regular person. After he figures his powers and how to use them Superman wants to be hidden when he transitions to Superman. Superman has to pretend to be someone else to cover for the actual Superman. I believe that shows displacement because it shows Superman tends to be displaced when he changes his look because he can be the Superman he wants to be without covering his look. Finally, the last film and favorite the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I’ve been watching this show as a child and I love this show. So, Fresh Prince of Bel Air starring Will Smith is shown where Will is from South Philly and gets into a conflict that makes him move out  his neighborhood and move into his uncle. When Will was in South Philly, he was from an extremely poor area and when he moved to Bel Air it was the complete opposite. Will is an extremely funny character in this film where he always cracks jokes and makes people laugh, but when he first arrives at Bel Air it seems he doesn’t fit in right away. When it comes to the way he talks, dressed, and the way he acts didn’t fit for people in Bel Air. When he meets Uncle Phil, right away he makes comments on his slang, clothing and the way he acts. Will has to adapt in this new setting his in than where he was originally from. 

The videos that I have watched were Superman, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Seeing the three clips, they all show displacement in different ways and are willing to be part of society. In the Superman video, it is about a man who came from another planet called Krypton where he has superpowers unlike anyone else has seen before. Knowing he has these powers he decides to use them for good and save lives. This is where displacement is involved, Superman is unique, there is no one else like him and citizens seem to look up to him as if he is a god. Usually  anyone who is different from others tends to be ignored by society but because superman has superpowers and can do many cool things people love him. In order for Superman to blend in and be seen as a normal human being he has to be in disguise. Going as Clark Kent who works as a reporter. The netflix show called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is about “mole” women who were kidnapped and kept underground away from society. Kimmy Schmidt who was kidnapped at a young age and when she was freed she still had the mentality of a young girl. Being a “mole” women society would sympathize her for her unfortunate event and would not see her as a person but as a victim. Kimmy refuses to be seen as a victim but to be seen as a regular person. However, even when she tries to be normal and talk to people, people look at her confused. The reason why is because of her mentality of a young girl due to her being unable to develop and act her age due to being stuck underground for several years. Another example of displacement is Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Will Smith who cracks jokes all the time and uses humor every chance he gets just shows how different he is from the rest of his family. Such as his uncle Phil and aunt Vivian who are wealthy and act sophisticated. Will Smith comes from a difficult neighborhood and her mom decided to send Will to his uncle where he can get a better life. Will acts, dresses and talks differently compared to his uncle and doesn’t fit in. All these three videos show displacement and how the person is different from their surroundings.
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“The Chinese virus, it’s not racist at all. It comes from China,” said Trump. The corona virus also known as COVID-19  is a virus that has been very problematic and has spread across countries. Many people have died due to this virus and more deaths will continue. People are suppose to come together and support one another during this crisis and those in higher power should reinforce the importance of supporting one another instead of  putting blame. Trump who is the president of the United States continues putting blame on China for the outbreak. As if ethnicity has to do something with the virus. As a result more people believe that these allegations are true. Which causes people to also believe that it is okay to call slurs to Chinese people and their community since it was their “fault” for the outbreak. Imagine being blamed for a virus that has nothing to do from where you come from but because someone said it does it must mean it’s true. This just shows how the president of the United States of America is a racist. Making people turn against others during this crisis.

Article:https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/us/politics/china-virus.html

WHY?  We are living in a strange and unprecedented time.  Not only is the Coronavirus threatening lives all over the world, but the rhythm of our daily lives has been completely disrupted.   This seems like a perfect time to keep a journal.  This will give us an opportunity to reflect on what’s going on around us, to consider our own reactions to this unsettled time, and to create a written record of this chapter of our lives.  Journal keeping can be particularly helpful in times of heightened anxiety by giving us a chance to express  thoughts and feelings that we might otherwise keep bottled up.

WHAT? From now until the end of the semester, you will be writing in an online journal for a minimum of 20 minutes at least three times a week.  What you write is entirely up to you, but I may occasionally post some questions to act as journaling prompts.  Some questions you may consider as you get started are:  What is going on right now? How do I feel about it?  What’s next?  What is the hardest thing for me right now?  What am a feeling okay about?  What keeps me up at night?  What am I going to do tomorrow?

Don’t overthink it; just get use to working that writing and reflection muscle!

HOW?  You will create a document in Google Docs for your journal.  Be sure to assign the document a title that includes your name (i.e. Jennifer Sylvor’s Journal).  Share the document with me ([email protected]).   Each time you write in your journal, just keep adding to the same document, being sure to date each entry.

WHEN? You can choose how often you want to write.  Just be sure that you are writing at least three times a week.  I will be looking at the journals periodically – just to make sure that you are writing consistently.

 Displacement in Popular Culture:

Displacement is a popular motif in many forms of popular culture (The terms “popular culture” refers to any cultural production that is designed with a mass audience in mind.) Our work for this week is to think about how displacement works in some of the culture that we consume. This could include movies, television, fiction, popular music, video games, and more.

1) Your first task is to watch at least three of the clips I’ve linked to below. Then comment on this blog post with the following information: Which clips or episodes did you watch? Explain what the displacement is in each case. In the case of humorous examples, please explain how the humor works – what makes this element funny? And how is the humor related to the displacement? You may also want to think about the relationship between the displaced person (or people) and the host community he/she enters. What role does the displaced person play? Feel free to also comment more broadly on anything else you notice while watching these selections. Your response should be 350 words, minimum and must be posted by Wednesday, March 25^th (11:59pm!).

Superman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIy3dam_Aoo

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7el0u3

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl4bOuGNMwo

Mork and Mindy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O3HH74KtlU&list=PLdSitq2h7vCKiT9PsFnnUlxkhuBpA8mKN&index=3&t=0s

Green Acres (theme song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HKI5FML8U4

The Jeffersons

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x54msjn

2) Your second assignment is to find a text of your own that conforms to the same model of displacement you identified in the examples I shared.   Your text could be a movie, television show, cartoon, video game, or song.   Once you have selected your text, identify a representative clip that you can share on the blog. In addition to providing your clip, please post a description of your text that explains how it conforms to the model of displacement we’ve seen in the examples I provided. Who is the displaced individual? What does displacement do for him/her? Does it function as a kind of curse or burden, or does the displaced person possess some sort of advantage (like Superman)? What is the relationship between the displaced person and his/her new community? What role does he/she play? Your analysis should be 400-500 words in order to receive credit for the assignment. This assignment is due by Friday, March 27^th at 11:59pm.

Social media often does not cover the Syria civil war that has been going on for years now. There about 5.5 millions who are a refugee and it keeps growing.  They are living in refugee camps that now became their homes. Yet nobody is doing anything to change that, they are left without any help form countries. And when they finally make it to a safe place, they are faced with all of more obstacles. The article I choice shows the difficult a family had to face just to find a safe haven. They were given hope during the Obama administration, they had everything ready for their new life. But it was once again away with Trump travel ban from seven Muslim countries. Can you imagine waiting years to leave a war violence country only to have that chance being taken away. The articles describe the violence and danger the civilians are in Syria. And having to file for asylum, describing the situations with a language that you have no knowledge in. It is important to know how these people are living and crisis that faced by people just like us. They are living in poverty losing homes, family and friends. The mental and physical each family or an individual goes through during times like this. It is important to be aware of what going on around us and how to help improve our immigration policy to help those in need.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/syria-turkey-usa-refugee-crisis-trump-biden-sanders/607984/

Hi Everyone,

We won’t be starting our online assignments until next week, but I wanted to check in to see how you are doing? I hope you are continuing to make some progress on your Literary Analysis essays, but I understand that it might be challenging with so much going on in the world.  Please feel free to send me your drafts via email this week, so that I can comment on them and give you some guidance.

I miss you, and I miss the rhythm of the work week.  I am guessing that some of you are feeling anxious or disconnected too, so I just wanted to invite you to stay in communication with me and with your classmates.  To that end, I would love to know what’s going on with you.  How are you practicing “social distancing”? How is your family managing with all this stress and uncertainty?  What are you most worried about?  How are you spending the time when you would ordinarily be in school or doing homework?    Feel free to share your response as a comment to this post.  Also, if it feels more comfortable, you can also reach out to me personally — particularly if there is something going on that you need real, practical help with.  Remember – I am your professor, but I am also a mom, a giver of free advice, and a fellow New Yorker; I am here to help you get through this crazy time!!!

Take care (and keep washing your hands!)

Professor Sylvor

Hi Everyone,

Most of you were in class yesterday when I shared plans for us to move our class online, effective immediately.  However, the CUNY Chancellor has announced a change in policy that affects our short term plans.  All CUNY campuses will have an “Instructional Break” beginning today, March 12th and continuing until March 19th, when distance learning will begin.  This week will give faculty and students a chance to pause, take a deep breath, and prepare for distance learning.

So, what does this mean for us?

First of all, I am postponing the due date for your Literary Analysis essays to conform with this break. Those essays will now be due on Friday, March 20th. As you revise your essays, please feel free to share your drafts with me, so that I can continue to offer feedback.

Second, we will not be commencing our experiment in distance learning until Monday, March 23rd.  Plan to log on to our blog on that Monday morning to receive your first assignment.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions or concerns.  We are all making this up as we go along, but I, like the rest of your professors, will do my best to support your continued learning and well-being during this temporary disruption.

Take good care of yourselves!

Professor Sylvor

Displacement happens when something is being moved from one place to another. The Displaced: Introduction by Jake Silverstein explains how the world has been created by wars and the things we are not noticing come after or during wars. For example, as the article explains the suffering that is behind every family including the children that are losing their parents. I chose this article because it explains what wars are doing to children. During a war if the children are not killed the child will end up displaced to an extraneous place where they will not know anyone. This displacing phase of the children’s life is not always as easy as people imagine they suffer and sometimes children end up in depression. Not always happens because of the displacement is because of why they had to displace from. This article represents how displacement not only happens when moving to another country, usually it happens in the same country and currently because of wars.       

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/magazine/the-displaced-introduction.html

The father brings his sons to his mistress’s house shows that he does not care about the consequence because he knows power and authority over his family. Yunior’s dad is a very aggressive person, who feels like he is the King. The whole family allows him to take control and submissive to his authority. He does not care that he is married or has any type of respect for the people around him. The father is teaching the sons that is it okay to treat women wrong and cheating is normal. Yunior said “The two of them went upstairs and I was too sacred of what happening to poke around.” (pg. 36) It illuminates how much the son’s fear their father, they do not question anything. During the visit to the Puerto Rico woman’s house, he did not question once about the situation. Even did not tell his brother because both were so afraid of their father, it showed how both boys are afraid of the consequences for their own father’s actions. The sons are put into a difficult place where they want to keep their family together but also have to keep their father dirty secret.