B Block Criminology - Oh...Casey Anthony and the Media frenzy that was and still is...I want you to try to make sense of the crime (Casey and Caylee Anthony), the media's coverage of the crime (particularly Nancy Grace), feminist perspectives on criminology, the bad mother motif, and Schadenfreude. No TL;DR here okay?!
HLN's Nancy Grace covered the Casey Anthony trial heavily in 2011. To her credit Nancy Grace was a criminal prosecutor in Georgia. Here is a CNN bio on her..
HLN's Nancy Grace covered the Casey Anthony trial heavily in 2011. Grace had her own trial of Casey Anthony in the media. Here is a sampling of her coverage
After the verdict here's what she had to say - which further shaped the public's opinion of Casey Anthony even after she was found not guilty by a jury of her peers
Now, here's what the media had to say about the media covering the Casey Anthony trial
And here's what CBC had to discuss about Nancy Grace on the show Q
Does the trial have a longer lasting impact on the USA or was it just 15 minutes of fame and a distraction from mundane daily life? Because of her actions, Nancy Grace has been spoofed on SNL and MadTV to name just two...
HBO had a television series called The Newsroom and they had an amazing bit on Nancy Grace's coverage of Tot Mom...
CNN did a retrospective piece on the trial here
“I report and cover and investigate very disturbing criminal cases. I consider those facts to be evidence. If other people consider true crime to be sensational, I would say that they’re wrong,”
You should take some time to understand the German psychology/sociology term Schadenfreude. This term deals with a big concept - that as humans, we have a private rush of glee when someone else struggles (we take delight in another person's pain and misfortune). Schadenfreude registers in the brain as a pleasurable experience, a satisfaction comparable to that of eating a good meal. Schadenfreude is a common and normal part of life but can become dangerous if we lose empathy, fall into demonizing others, or lapse into “us vs. them” thinking.
There is a human fascination with murder as entertainment and news media companies have turned the story of the death of a toddler into a prime time circus...a story that we can safely watch and perhaps feel a little guilty pleasure in the fact that we're better than Casey Anthony. Her pain and suffering on television brings us delight and makes us feel good in that we are not the monster that the media has portrayed her out to be...sigh.
Matt Wild wrote a piece called The guilty (and not-so-guilty) pleasures of Dateline NBC and in it he stated
There is a human fascination with murder as entertainment and news media companies have turned the story of the death of a toddler into a prime time circus...a story that we can safely watch and perhaps feel a little guilty pleasure in the fact that we're better than Casey Anthony. Her pain and suffering on television brings us delight and makes us feel good in that we are not the monster that the media has portrayed her out to be...sigh.
Matt Wild wrote a piece called The guilty (and not-so-guilty) pleasures of Dateline NBC and in it he stated
...for an alarming number of Americans—myself included—Dateline has become appointment viewing. Mad Men, Downton Abbey, and their ilk are fine, but there’s a distinct, guilty pleasure in staying home on a Friday night, dimming the lights, sounding off on Twitter with other like minded fans, and watching the sordid true-life tales of murderous spouses (usually husbands), sorrowful family members (usually parents), and sinister motives (almost always infidelity) unspool over the course of an hour, all narrated by the stern and sonorous Morrison, or the rumpled and incredulous Mankiewicz. Murder, shattered families, and desperate cries for justice: perfect for a cozy night of popcorn, wine, and incessant tweeting.So you have a question to answer for me:
Why do you think True Crime is such a popular content area/genre in mass media and what are the potential effects of consuming it? Are the voyeurisms of consuming the True Crime genre of media an example of curiosity or exploitation? Regardless of your opinion of Casey Anthony is it possible for her to escape the negative label of "Tot Mom" and will she ever be able to avoid the horrible mother image presented by CNN and Nancy Grace? Use examples from the Casey Anthony trial to explain your ideas. How does the concept of Schadenfreude and Cancel Culture apply to the Casey Anthony trial? Did the media shame, call out, or try to cancel Casey Anthony? How would low self-esteem make someone more likely to seek out schadenfreude-filled crime media? Is Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat) good or bad for criminal trials and the news/media coverage of them? Use examples from the Casey Anthony trial and from either Monica Lewinsky's story or those in the 15 Minutes of Shame video (Matt Colvin, Emmanuel Cafferty, or Laura Krolczyk) to explain your ideasYou should consider the following when answering your question:
- Think about who reports information and how that information is used.
- Think about your privacy and how you manage your on-line presence.
- Think about how social media can be introduced as evidence at trials.
- Think about how social media can be used for reporting during trials.
- Do viewer/user comments about media coverage of a trial provide valuable feedback for discussion or not? Why?
- Is public shaming protected by the right to free speech or is this a case where our old norms and principles have simply been exposed as unfit for a new era?
A Block Physical Geography - To help with your questions about Consumption and Climate, today and tomorrow we'll watch Home, an incredible documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand who also helped to initiate a foundation called Good Planet. Please take some time to share this movie with as many family and friends as you can. You can watch it on line at the YouTube home project's channel or connect with it on the film's Facebook page or watch it below...
Think about the title. What is our collective home? Now think about the statement from the beginning of the film today...
Listen to me, please. You're like me, a homo sapiens. A wise human. Life; a miracle in the universe appeared around 4 billion years ago and we humans only 200,000 years ago, yet we have succeeded in disrupting the balance so essential to life. Listen carefully to this extraordinary story, which is yours, and decide what you want to do with it.
I cannot stress this enough...this movie is amazing! It perfectly encapsulates both Human and Physical Geography...it is both a cautionary tale of human impacts and a love letter to the planet. At the end, the narrator (Glenn Close) says,
"Must we always build walls to break the chain of human solidarity, separate peoples and protect the happiness of some from the misery of others? It's too late to be a pessimist. I know that a single human can knock down every wall. It's too late to be a pessimist. Worldwide, four children out of five attend school. Never has learning been given to so many human beings. Everyone, from richest to poorest, can make a contribution"Good Planet Foundation President Yann-Arthus Bertrand (the film maker for Home) says "I think it’s too late to be pessimistic. There’s no way to think optimistically or not – we need actions. Everybody has a mission and everybody can do something. The way you live is very important, in your private life. To that end, look at all the good that is going on right now:
Today's Fit...
No comments:
Post a Comment