When I was in elementary school, I was not allowed to watch television, or any sort of screen for that matter, during the school week. That meant that when I got home from school on Friday the first thing I did was turn on the newest episode of "Hannah Montana" and watch TV until I fell asleep. For me, the weekends meant watching Disney Channel, going to the movie theatre, spending unnecessary amounts of my parent's money at the mall, and eating out at fun restaurants. I didn't realize it at the time, but the reason I thought of the weekends as two days full of exciting activities was due to the leisure revolution of the twentieth century.
Basically, the leisure revolution (as talked about in "Working Class Hollywood") was "built upon the industrial revolution of the ninenteenth century" (13). It occured right around the time people were working less and making more disposable income; therefore, they started "living for the weekend". People began spending their Sundays going to the theatre for entertainment rather than going to church. Their abundance of money and free time sent them searching for public places to relax and have fu such as movie theatres and symphonies. There was a massive shift from weekends being family time at home to being the time for lively and unique activities. I am definitely a child of the leisure revolution. Most of the people I know have the mentality of "living for the weekend" which I now realize is a relatively new sentiment. Chapter one of my book has mainly been focused on the "weekend entertainment revolution" and I am interested to see how the novel progresses. So far, the book is honestly not as focused on class as it is on the entertainment industry in general, but I suspect that will shift soon. I think the writing is mediocre so far, but I am keeping an open mind. Happy weekend! :)
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It is currently 8:45 on Friday night. My class finished the film "Rich Hill" yesterday, and I still can not get it off my mind. For some reason, this documentary has stuck with me more than any of the other films we have watched. I think having main characters be around the same age as an audience creates a sort of intimacy and understanding not felt when the audience is in a different age group as the protagonists, and I definitely felt that watching Andrew, Harlee, and Apachee. I can not relate to the issue of homelessness first hand, but I think taking an extremely personal and vulnerable look into the lives of the three boys made me feel closer to the issue than I have ever felt before.
I have only just begun my choice novel about class. Now that I feel a deeper connection to the problems of homelessness and class inequalities, I am excited to see how it brings a new perspective to my book. I sometimes wish I could participate in an experiment called "Homeless For A Day" where traditionally upper-middle class families take on the struggles facing homeless people for one day just so I could empathize with people facing the issue on a more personal level. I found a video where a man did this and posted it below. I am seriously buckling down this week to read my choice novel. Happy Friday! Wow. It really feels like forever since I have written one of these posts. It is now the second marking period and we are beginning our unit on class and consumerism. I will soon start reading my novel "Working Class Hollywood" by Steve Ross and I am more excited for this book than I was starting my other books. I find the topics of race and gender to be extremely uncomfortable, so reading books all about those topics was difficult for me. I feel much more open and comfortable when talking about social class but I am not sure why.
I have taken classes throughout high school such as Sociology and Psychology where we have studies topics similar to social class, and I always find them extremely interesting. I plan on starting my new choice book this weekend and am curious as to how it will expose and compare the different social classes. The title also makes me wonder how they will add the additional element of Hollywood into the mix. I have definitely lived in an upper middle class bubble for my whole life, but I try really hard to be aware of people's living conditions around me. Hopefully this book will help me do that! Happy weekend! |
AuthorAmy Granick is a senior at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. She plans to continue her studies at North Carolina State University in the fall with a major in Psychology. Archives
May 2018
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