Choice # 3, 13 Going on 30... Flirty & Thriving

13 going on 30 is a movie based on a teenage girl named Jenna Rink who wishes to be 30 to overcome her unpopularity at school. Jenna is celebrating her 13th birthday in her house and decides to invite the famous “Six Chicks” school group in hopes of joining their clique. Jenna’s best friend and neighbor Matt makes her a “dream doll house” and a packet of magic wishing dust. Miraculously after the head of six chicks Tom-Tom pulls a bad joke on Jenna she wishes to be “thirty, flirty and thriving” and seconds later awakens as a 30 year old in 2004.

This movie portrays how a teenage girl who feels unpopular, nerdy and disliked by her school friends is trapped finding ways to fit in to the “norm” at her school. For example, before her birthday begins she puts on makeup and tissue paper on her breasts to make them look larger. She begs her parents to stay in their room because her “friends” are coming over.

30 year old Jenna awakens with no memory from the past 15 years of her life and discovers she works for Poise, her favorite magazine as a teenager and realizes Matt no longer exist in her life since her 13th birthday. The complication of this story is that Jenna is still 13 yet trapped in a 30 year old body. She realizes that she has become a bad person and disliked by many because of her obnoxious actions.

Finally, Jenna decides to move away from all the negative aspects of her life and tries to restore her life again where she left of 15 years ago. The movie ends as Jenna discovers Matt’s engagement and rapid marriage and goes back to her “dream house” filled of magic wishing dust and wishes to go back in time and her wish is granted. Jenna is given the opportunity to build her life again and marries Matt.

This movie connects directly with the discussion in Laura Greenfield’s “Fast Forward.” She explains “Whether it is a desire to be an adult when one is a child, to be a gangster when one is privileged, to be famous when one is unknown, or to look like a model when one does not, young people are preoccupied with becoming other than they are.” Jenna Rink throughout the film is preoccupied with becoming something else.

The intention of 13 going on 30 is to portray a young girl who in the midst of complications and loss of her own self still gets what she wants, love, respect, beauty and wealth. However, the implication about young “white” teenage girls is a transition of body dissatisfactions, lack of normalcy and popularity and girls competing against other girls in the hopes of becoming number one in their schools popularity and beauty standards.

Project Ideas

I thought of looking at magazines, social networks online like myspace and facebook to dissect the messaging about what it is to be a teenage girl (body image, beauty, looks and style) in today's society and probably the differences in areas where they live or ethnicity. Any thoughts or suggestions guys?

Kid Nation

Going thru all of the readings about the show Kid Nation I could interpret that the authors of these commentaries were not referring to the kids in this show in a positive way. They hadn’t even started the show and they already doubted whether the kids would make it or not based upon their personal attitudes about teens.

I found several comments that support this negative attitude about these kids in the articles. For example:

“Through it all. They’ll cope with regular childhood emotions and situations: homesickness, peer pressure, and the urge to break every rule they’ve ever known.”
“There is nothing particularly new about the conflicting images of children as innocents and children as beasts.” “Parent bashing is the favorite indoor sports these days.” “With nary a thong, video game or cellphone in sight, the children on the “Kid Nation” promo appear more physically active, intellectually engaged and (no small thing) appropriately dressed than most kids on T.V. (and in real life) these day’s.”

These comments are clear insults to kids on this show and teens nationally drawing from this dominant discourse about teenagers.

Choice # 1 Juno, Pregnant, Strong & Smart

Juno is a film about a 16 year old girl who finds out she is pregnant. With the help of her friend she attempts to figure out whether she should abort or give in adoption the unborn baby.

One of the most impressive characteristics of this movie is Juno’s personality and character. Although she is pregnant at a very young age she is not the typical teenager.

One of these examples is when Juno decides to go to the abortion clinic and finds one of her classmates outside and after a discussion with her about the consequences of an abortion she decides to keep the baby and give it up for adoption.

Another example is when Juno confesses to her parents that she’s pregnant which is another example reinforcing her character.

One of the most important lessons from this film is the importance of family in a teenager’s life during “critical” moments like pregnancy. Her parents supported her on every decision she made which gave her the strength to continue through the journey.

This film definitely taps the ideologies believed by society about pregnancy. Juno overlooked those challenges and in the middle of a difficult situation she tried to make the best out of it. Embracing challenge as a teenager in today’s society is a trait to be celebrated!

Choice # 2. A Voice for Youth Leadership: Jeff Johnson

On March 6th, Harambee a multicultural organization at RIC hosted a lecture with activist Jeff Johnson, a producer for BET and host of the TV show Chop UP lives. It was an amazing night because he touched on very controversial and sensitive topics that pertain specifically to the black community in this country.

Johnson began his discussion by highlighting how issues pertaining black people are only celebrated during black history month throughout colleges and universities yet he notes “never celebrated by its own people.” He explained that Martin Luther King is only highlighted during black history month and that we lie about his commitment to activism because it makes us feel comfortable. MLK was not popular, he was considered a troublemaker yet we view him as the legendary activist of all times. Johnson says “we should rally about his spirits, not his speeches” because they are not relevant to the issues of social and political change of this era. How relevant is 2008 is to play I have a dream?

He provided the example of the young black teenagers from Louisiana charged with attempted murder and conspiracy charges after beating a white schoolmate following months of racial discrimination that started in a schoolyard tree. Johnson expressed frustration when this happened not because of the young teen’s necessarily but the up rise of black people going to Louisiana to fight the case. He says this is known as the “ring tone movement” which is the idea that we only move and take action when somebody calls. He was sad about this movement because people were leaving their towns to fight for these kids yet they did not fight in their neighborhoods for their own people.

Moreover, Johnson talked about the institutions responsible for maintaining activism for black people. Black churches were the jump off point for changes from slavery to the civil rights movement. He explained the 3 stages that the church went through which preceded this change:

• The revival cycle, when local churches was the source of revival for local communities, politically and socially. The role of the church during this stage was to save souls while saving lives.

• The convention season, when the focus became building infrastructure to cover the churches fees. Church separated the need to discuss issues of poverty and education in the church.

• Black effective officials, when the church was more concerned with charisma of its officials rather than the transformation and mobilization of the church to help black people.
  

Jeff Johnson concluded his presentation with tips on how to become an effective activist. He said “activism in not about leadership. It’s about action and movement.” Anyone interested in becoming an activist of an issue should take into consideration the following points:

1. What is my call? What pisses me off about this issue? What is the emotion that moves you?It is like calling your internal self.
2. What is my capacity? Identify organizations (there are some on campus) that might need help.
3.Understand that as I grow my capacity grows.
4.Build a team of people that are focused on a single issue.

Fast Forward--- Laura Greenfield

Some things I understand: Laura Greenfield uses photos as a medium to express the “journey’s” lived by these teenagers. However, her point is not to express their experiences in the same context instead is “to explore the ways in which young people from diverse backgrounds are similarly influenced by a popular culture they share.” I think what Greenfield suggest is that our popular culture today pushes to grow up and to move drastically from their experiences as teens.

Greenfield says “a common theme that kept me focused throughout was the sense of an early loss of innocence.” It was very interesting that I first began by looking at the images and then read her preface. By the end of looking at the images I had the same feeling about these teens. They had lost their innocence and were looking at their lives very differently. One aspect of the project that was defined picture through picture was how the teens felt very different in relation to other teens. That difference made them special and unique.

Connection to other texts: One connection I found relevant for this discussion was the article “Bad Boys” when Ann Ferguson explains her experiences with Horace, a 12 year old that she was assigned to tutor. She says, "With his help I came to see kids not as humans-in-the-making but as resourceful social actors who took an active role in shaping their daily experiences." I think Greenfield in her photo project interprets teens similarly since they are portrayed as kids actively involved in their passions.

This project was very interactive and fun to analyze. I had a good time listening to the stories.

Bad Boys

This article was very interesting because it analyzed the pressures that young African American men have to face from their experiences in school. Ann Arnett Ferguson begins her article with her observations as a member of an “at-risk” intervention program. Through some boys that she observed in a classroom she had the opportunity to observe the punishing room which led to her research.
One aspect of her research that interested me was that the only African Americans part of the staff were those who overseen the punishing room. Ferguson categorized the group of students she observed as “troublemakers” and “schoolboys.” She points that “as African American males, the schoolboys were always on the brink of being redefined into the troublemaker category by the school.” “By the school” was the part that hit me. These boys regardless of being “troublemakers” or “schoolboys” were defined as such by school staff without taken into consideration where they lived, their background, community, their family.
Ferguson adopted a very creative approach to look at their good and bad experiences within the school through their voices. She says “I assumed at the start that I would learn about kids; but it was long before I was obliged to question this premise and to learn from children.”
Ferguson’s experiences reminded me of my experiences at Hope High School because as students of color we were constantly categorized, questioned and underestimated. I felt like the “troublemakers” of this story were underestimated by the school staff. As Ferguson explained, “those who were classified as lazy, belligerent, incorrigible at school could be respectful, diligent, and responsible in other contexts.” It also reminded me of the kids from the after school program from my job at Volunteers In Providence Schools (VIPS). They come to our program in the afternoons because they are failing in some classes and are not receiving the attention needed at the school to do better. When we have visited the teachers that the school to find out if they have progressed some of them refer to them as “kids with problems” because they only speak Spanish (and speak in class all the time), they are always behind with the work and don’t participate in class. Yet, what the Ferguson talks about in her article, these kids have only been in the country for less than two years. They have confessed to us that they are mad at the schools, parents and even the world for putting them in this difficult environment that they cannot accustom to. The reason why they are behind with homework and do not participate in class is because they do not understand what they need to do and they talk in class because they ask other kids who know English and Spanish to translate for them what the teacher said.
It is sad and frustrating to know that students are always put into these positions and expected to do so much with so little provided to them.