To acrren members: I am shocled that on this sorrowfil occassion we have those who would bash Mareica and what America stands for: freedom of speech! To blame Hollywood for its excesses or America for its cultural arrogance is aboslutely to misunderstand what this country is about. Those who have pereptrated this horror on us would not be so willing to permit any freedoms whatsoever. Lets get real please! Eleni Phufas -----Original Message----- From: Anthony Rocha Sent: Sun 9/16/2001 3:18 PM To: [log in to unmask] Cc: Subject: Re: Your responsibility Friends, I would like to tie this societal problem to film, however everything is tied to film and TV as they just represent us in some form as humans. Since the study of film and media is such an important aspect of our society and has such a large influence on our society I feel it is important for me to share some thoughts. You after all have a forum, you write and you shape media as well. It is the critique of media that often prevents it from pursuing any whim it wishes. I want to note that I am not a firm believer in non responsibility. Just as the terrorists are responsible for their horrific actions, we are responsible as well. We have not been a kind country for hundreds of years. The world largely is seen as a vehicle to sustain our economic life. We have peddle our ideas and our media off to humanity to expand markets with no concern for content or culture. The climate of economic abuse and cultural disregard is one that has come back to haunt us. This is more than likely the beginning of years of problems. I am now hearing and I have heard this before that the idea of a chemical or nuclear bomb is a very viable threat in our cities. The media in large part has chosen what we see and how we digest these tragedies. We as Americans are very uneducated about life and the world. We have might and economic strength but we seem to use it in the most simplistic ways. I am reminded of children who can only get in touch with the emotion of anger and not filter in reason as well. Of the politicians I have heard few tend to speak with reason. While there will be military actions in the next few days, this combine with no thought in our role of setting of this extreme level of hatred towards Americans will serve no purpose. We have peddle violent uneducated crap to the world for decades (films, TV). We have peddle Americans as the heroes and righteous for decades. What type of emotional reactions do you think this has on young children in other countries to identify with the American in films and yet have an emotional conflict with the lack of identification with their own culture. You have the power to do something about it. You are a teacher. You are critiques of the media and you have the ability to enlighten. While I am American and love my country I cannot divorce myself from the problematic way (in/to) which we interact with the world. Thank you! ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]