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"What You Don't Like Can Still Guide You",,"I don't remember much about going to see 300 except that I left the theatre with an uneasy feeling. Something didn't sit right about the way the characters were portrayed. My father was a high school film teacher, so I had been given the tools to analyze a film's ideology and meaning, but this was the first time I really did it by myself.
I recognized the way the Spartans could easily be replaced with Americans, and that the Persians were kind of meant to be Al Qaeda or the ""evil"" Middle East. The film was a fantasy for a post 9/11 United States audience. And it didn't end there. I was actually most struck by the way the Persians were queered in the film, and the Spartans were the peak of heterosexual hyper-masculinity. I began to think: How would this film affect the way people view current events and, more importantly, other people? What are the stakes here?
Suddenly I understood the importance of meaning-making and what studying the humanities was all about. I talked about the film to anyone who would listen for weeks: ""Don't you see how this film conflates queerness and femininity with evil?"" and so on. I felt such urgency about it. It was a major turning point for me in understanding how ideas are disseminated and perpetuated. It was somewhat of a dark experience, but one that changed my life forever.
When I got to grad school and began to learn about hegemony, power, and ideology I always went back to 300 in my mind. It's how I learned to make sense of these vital concepts. As I grew up I learned that many critics had seen the same things I had seen in the film, and that my ideas were not nearly as novel as I thought in my youth. This just further cemented my desire to pursue this kind of work. Now I study American Studies and I focus on film and how Americanness is depicted and designed. So I guess it turns out that even the works of humanities that you don't like can change your life for the better and help you find your path.",,"300 (2006)",,2007,"Emily, 32, American Studies Ph.D. Student",,,,,,what-you-dont-like-can-guide-you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Ancient History,Cultural Awareness,Film and Movies,Stereotypes,War",http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/18/478/HM_300_Image.jpg,Text,"Graduate Student Residents 2021",1,0
"Don’t Buy Into A Single Story ",,"I encourage everyone to watch novelist Chimamanda Adichie’s 2009 TED talk “The Danger of A Single Story.” Adichie uses her personal experiences to illustrate the importance of sharing different stories about people. She warns of the consequences of a single story and how it can rob people of their dignity, create stereotypes, and make difficult the recognition of our equal humanity.
Adichie’s talk made me ponder current events and how many American politicians and leaders are attempting to create a single story about immigrants and others. One, in particular, is the group of Central American migrants fleeing danger and desperate situations for a new life in America. The president and others are painting them as criminals who are trying to invade the country. This is dangerous. It’s a seemingly hateful attempt to fan the flames of division and stoke the fears of his supporters. Adichie says, “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” She continues “power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.” Imagine if the first story told about this group of migrants was that many are mothers and fathers who desire safety and security for their families. Doing so would change the narrative entirely. To insist on only negative stories, those in power are attempting to dehumanize migrants and encourage Americans to believe that migrants are in no way similar to them. These views are extremely dangerous and can result in violence against an entire group of people.
I hope Adichie’s talk will encourage more people to not buy into a single story told about others. And in doing so, recognize that all people are informed and shaped by many stories. This is needed always, but especially in current times.
","Chimamanda Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, and other works","“The Danger of the Single Story,” a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie",,2018,"Olympia Friday, Digital Engagement and Marketing Coordinator, National Humanities Center",,,,,,dont-buy-into-a-single-story,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"",,,"Borderlands,Diversity,Human Rights,Immigration,Migration,Ngozi Adichie, Chimamanda,Public Speaking,Stereotypes,Storytelling,TED Talks",http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/242/Chimamanda_Adichie.png,"Moving Image",,1,0