After doing some research on the different topics I wanted to write on for this blog post, it was difficult for me to pick just one that I wanted to discuss. This is because I valued so many of the topics that I was thinking of writing about, but the one I chose really sealed the deal for me as it adds so much to what the prompt is asking for. I am writing about a very famous movie that I am positive everyone has watched at least once in their life. The name of the movie is “Black Panther”. “Black Panther” is about the African nation of Wakanda when “Black Panther” tries to save his people by fighting against the enemies. This movie not only represents an imagined alternative to current cultural and social conditions, but also as political and economic. The main message this movie tries to express is how you can turn something negative into a positive outlook.

The topic I chose to write about for this blog post is about the movie “Black Panther. This is a topic that is taking place in Wauconda a kingdom and black panther. Wakanda is a kingdom that is technologically as well as systematically advanced. There are many stereotypes with the continent of Africa into in today’s society but with the movie Black Panther it shows that many positive effects are put into account because of the Kingdom that is filled with so much positivity that is wakanda with its technological advancements shape it’s Kingdom in a way where Society is able to grow and prosper in a beautiful way that does not involve negativity or stereotypes evolved within one Society however in contrary to that thought there are many stereotypes associated with certain nations in Africa that and certain groups of people in Africa that are just untrue but because of society standards on specific views as well as naiveness and people certain stereotypes are believed to be true but the movie Black Panther is trying to portray a positive viewpoint on these different groups of people proof many stereotypes are false and untrue.

To finish, “Black Panther” is a movie that is also has resources culturally that is a reflection of an image that is the opposite of what our society believes to be true. The world that is portrayed in the movie is one that has no limits because of the positive change that goes on. I am really happy there is a movie that is able to so perfectly portray this lifelike image of something that sends such a powerful image across. This movie has shaped so many people across the globe to think a different way because of the fight that goes on in the movie that highlights that bad guys don’t always win. The good guy came out on top and was able to help its world with living a more peaceful and positive life. Unfortunately, our world today in real time should not be as negative as it has become in recent years, but people should be more willing to open their minds up to greater opportunities.

A stereotype that I have is about myself and my religion. Most people say that Jews are greedy. That is not me and that is not how I was raised. Ever since I was young my family and I gave to charity and helped people in need. An example is something called tzedakah. Tzedakah is a Hebrew word/name for the charity. It is a box that you put money into, and it goes to people in need. My great-grandparents came from Europe and had nothing to their name. They struggled and they had people helping them by giving them charity. I do believe that though there are few Jews that live up to the stereotype of being greedy, my family and I personally believe that is wrong. The Jewish community is very strong. One way that the Jewish community is very strong is when you travel or need a place to stay you can always get in touch with Chabad. When I first came to ASU I had no connection to other Jewish people on campus and had little to no friends that I could relate to on that religious level, but then I found out that ASU has a Chabad house. I went over there and the Rabbi put me in touch with other freshmen going to ASU. They were very kind and they helped me get settled into my new place. That is why I believe that Jews are not greedy and like to help other people in need. People think Jews are greedy because some individual Jews have done very well financially and some Jewish people can be greedy with their money. A Lot of Jewish people are considered frugal. One example is a lot of Jewish people are Frugal with their money and that’s often why people think Jewish people are greedy. One famous Jew that fit this stereotype of Jews being greedy was Bernie Madoff. Bernie Madoff is a white Jewish male that was very greedy and committed fraud against many people for his own self-gain. He stole about 65 billion dollars and did it out of greed. What he did was very Overt and wrong. The media said that Bernie was Jewish although he did commit a crime, him being Jewish this gave people more of a reason to think Jews are greedy. Another jew that is greedy for money is Sam Bankman-Fried. Sam is an American entrepreneur similar to Bernie who committed fraud for about 8 billion dollars. Sam allegedly had billions of dollars in loans that he hid from the government. He did this because he was greedy with his money. Yes, this construction is harmful to me and other Jewish people because there are a lot of anti-Semites that will tie anything bad or negative to Jews. This can benefit a lot of people who don’t like Jews. This also benefited Sam and Bernie for the little time that they got to keep as much money as they could until they were caught.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bernie-Madoff

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23458837/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-sbf-downfall-explained

The topic I chose to write about is the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Sandy Hook Elementary School held around 700 students ranging from ages 6 to 10 years old. This tragic event happened on December 14, 2012, in Newton, Connecticut by a 20-year-old named Adam Lanza. At 9:30 a.m. was when the first 911 calls were made. Lanza shot and killed 26 people total; six of those victims were kids ages 6 and 7 and the other six victims were adult staff members that worked at the school. Earlier that morning, prior to when the event took place Lanza used a .22 caliber Savage Mark II rifle to kill his mother, so that he could steal her car and use it to drive himself to the Sandy Hook Elementary School. It was after this tragic event when former president Barack Obama spoke on the issue and how we can prevent it moving forward; the issue of how accessible guns are to people who clearly are using them for the wrong reasons. Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-mast At the White House and other Federal buildings to show respect for the victims that were killed. It is a tragic tragedy that people all across America and the world have to worry about when they send their kids to school worrying if some random man or woman will come in with a life threatening motive. When I was growing up I never remember having to worry about a shooter coming into my school and killing my friends. It is when guns become easily accessible when these shootings begin to happen often. Not only are shootings happening in schools but also just recently in a town that I live right next door to was a shooting in Highland Park, Illinois during a 4th of July parade where families expect to laugh and enjoy themselves. This issue today is still not resolved and I think that the general public can agree because there are mass shootings happening way too often to innocent people every single day.  I think people forget that just because something may not make the news doesn’t mean it’s not happening somewhere in the world;  people are being killed every single day from gun violence whether it was an intentional shooting or by accident. Overall I think people have to do a better job about speaking out against this issue because too many people are dying and are not able to live the beautiful life that we have to live every single day.  I think that people take their lives for granted and I think that people think that nothing can harm them or nothing bad could happen to them. I think we’re all guilty of thinking or feeling this way but when you see and hear these awful tragedies in the news so often, you really have to sit down and ask yourself can this happen to me one day. Nobody is safe if they’re at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/us/connecticut-shootings-fast-facts/index.html

https://theconversation.com/how-the-power-of-persuasion-goes-way-beyond-mere-advertising-115400

I was looking through my phone to see what apps I spent the most amount of time on this past week. I was able to conclude a lot of things as well as had a whole new perspective on social media as a whole and how I feel it truly affects me. It was important to me to be able to gain a new understanding of how social media can constrict my mind more than I may think. After taking this week to reflect on how much time I am spending on each app that I own, I realized just how addicted I am to my phone in general. I was especially using apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram because there has been a lot that has happened in the Jewish community this week in particular that I wanted to be caught up on. 

For example, I was recently in Jerusalem and there was a tragic shooting that left 7 Jewish people dead and many more injured just this past week. There was so much of my time spent on each of these apps and I never took the time to think about how safe I really am when using these apps. I even recall talking to a friend about something that later popped up on Facebook as an ad and it made me question whether or not I was being listened to. It is a scary thought to reflect on because it seems like everything I talk about seems to pop up on my phone directly after I am done talking about it. After digging through these thoughts of mine that would not leave my brain, I came to find out that this has happened to many other people. I was relieved I was not the only one experiencing this invasive issue. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to stop it.

 After researching this I came to the conclusion that there are ways to help prevent it from happening. In terms of my overall privacy and security. I think not allowing people to see my current location will be a huge help in keeping my platforms more safe. Also, because I always used to tag people in my posts when I would post with a group of people. I think I will limit the amount I do that because I want to keep their identity safe as well. I think after seeing how much I spent on social media this past week made me want to take a break from social media as a whole for a while. I want to erase the apps for the same amount of time. I would have spent on them and I think that will help me appreciate my friends and family more, and also myself. I think taking time for myself is really important for my mental and physical health, so eliminating the things that consume my mind the most. Such as the social media apps will really help my overall mental health.

https://us.norton.com/blog/how-to/is-my-phone-listening-to-me

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/27/middleeast/jerusalem-shooting-dead-intl/index.html

Net Neutrality might impact media consumers’ access to technology, information, and ideas as included in NAMLE’s definition of media literacy through not giving consumers the full access they may need, in order to fully operate under those restrictions. As someone who is always on their phone and computer, I tend to see a lot of pop ups on my screen, that either say “you are about to enter an unsupervised webpage” or just your general AD blockers. When there was nothing that was searched that shouldn’t be available to the full public, without those ads popping up. When consumers try to access certain web pages that they may need for their work or as part of something their education provides. It is an inconvenience to have pop up ads that in bold, capitalized, red lettering says “BLOCKED” or “VIRUS”. Certain information that these consumers are looking up as to what they need to learn throughout the day is dependent on who you ask. Generally speaking people will google their questions that they may need help on in the current moment, or creative ideas that will help them with something they are planning.

Regardless of what they are looking for, Net Neutrality can cause a restriction for those consumers who will not want to click on certain links, that they know will not lead them to the information they want to learn more about. Media literacy that gives consumers the ability to access information without the blockage of being censored will make things a lot easier for them as well as take up less time when they are searching for answers. People have the right to search up whatever information they choose as long as it does not hurt the general public. People are allowed the freedom to have this option through using sites like Google, Youtube, and other major platforms, that give these consumers the resources to figure out how something works.

Any participation that consumers give into what they believe in, but with the disadvantage that they might have something blocked, is not something that will have a high success rate. However, with all of this said I do think that Net Neutrality is something that needs to exist, and needs to stay relevant for everyone to know about, so that people are not looking up things that could be a detrimental harm to our society as a whole. Certain websites that block the answers some consumers are looking for are doing the right thing because they obviously find something off or weird about the search history. This is keeping our community safe and the guidelines make consumers feel safe as well.

https://www.eff.org/issues/net-neutrality

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/net-neutrality

https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/internet-speech/what-net-neutrality

In the duration of the last 24 hours I continued to keep track of  the time I spent on my favorite social media app which is Snapchat. Snapchat for me is a place where I can go to talk to friends and send funny videos of my day to them in real time. This app allows me to stay entertained when I am sitting at home or waiting for my coffee at Starbucks. A precise estimate of the amount of time that I spent on Snapchat in the last 24 hours according to my Settings is 1 hour and 32 minutes. Though there are plenty of interesting features Snapchat has to offer, some interesting things that I find to be my favorite are the amount of accounts that have grilling techniques that I can use when I grill at home, the ability to be able to live video chat with your friends and creating your own private story where you can add whoever you want to it. Apart from Snapchat being one of the most credible media sources for me I would say that Instagram and TikTok are two others that are popular. These apps feature lots of potential in terms of being able to start a business or just allowing you to be your complete authentic self. 

https://www.snapchat.com

https://www.instagram.com

​​https://www.tiktok.com/en/

After researching this assignment I was choosing between many I wanted to write about, but the one that stood out the most to me was the movie “Get Out”; it is an imagined alternative to racism in this country. This movie is about a young African-American man who visits his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. He begins to feel uneasiness about their opinion of him and eventually reaches his breaking point. Chris, the actor playing the African-American man portrays a character that is being abused by his white girlfriend’s family in ways that are unimaginable. Throughout the duration of this movie, Chris slowly begins to realize that his girlfriend’s family wants to know much more about him than they should be curious about. For example, in the movie the mother of the girlfriend uses her hypnosis skills to hypnotize Chris into a paralyzed-like state that makes him unable to express any movement or physical emotion; they always asked him questions about what it is like to be African-American. There is so much racism that is portrayed in this movie, and I feel as though this movie expresses the amount of racism that is also portrayed in the real world. Racism is not resolved today and there is still so much racism today, so the movie remains relevant in today’s issues. Living in a world where people used to be and still are currently judged by the color of their skin color, religion, or any beliefs they may have is not an easy route to navigate for anyone. Because of the specific minority groups that are targeted on a daily basis people do not receive the same amount of respect or credit that they deserve. For example, a woman running for the office can be unselected from the high position she wants because a man with less or the same credentials will get the position solely because of the fact that he is a man. Also, not even that long ago there were a lot of celebrities who paid for their children to go through college and were caught because poor people whose kids had amazing grades could not send their children to their dream school because of financial problems. Though people have grown so much with time and have changed so much about this world that many more people have become so much more accepting of other people’s races, religions, beliefs, and so on; people are finally looked at as equal by way more people now than ever before. We as a whole are much more accepting of every race, religion, belief, etc who we share the world with. However, back then it was not easy for the minorities of the world. Though the problem still exists today where people across the globe are not looked at as equal or still get minimized because of the fact that they are women, Jews, have colored skin, or anything else that people judge them for the problem is still very much exists. I believe in 10 years from now when I have kids the world will become a more accepting place than it is today. I hope that when my children have kids of their own that there will no longer be any hatred in the world and that everyone will be accepting towards anyone they cross paths with. I also hope that schools will enforce class courses of acceptance, so that young students can learn how to be accepting of others as well as how to teach others how to be accepting. I personally think that if classes of acceptance were enforced for people of the older generations people of that generation like our parents and grandparents would be a lot more accepting.

I am a proud Jewish man who keeps kosher, fasts on Yom Kippur, and celebrates shabbat every Friday evening. There are many stereotypes amongst Jewish people, and one that I have been stereotyped for is if I am greedy with my money. I have heard all of the Jewish jokes throughout my life whether it were from strangers or my own peers who thought making Jew jokes was funny. I remember vividly when I was in middle school someone dropping a penny from their pocket onto the classroom floor and yelled out to me in front of all of my peers and teacher “Hey you! Pick up that penny I know how much Jews love thier money.” I will never forget the feeling of anger that arose throughout my body when he made a comment like that because not only was I offended, but he offended every Jewish person I know and love. This was something I was not prepared to have to defend because never did I think someone would dare make a joke about anyone’s religion, race, sexuality and so on; I accept everyone for exactly who they are, what they believe in as well as who they choose to love. Overall, my experience being a Jewish man has been very positive in the sense that I love all of my family members, my Jewish friends and Isreal. Fun fact I was actually bar-mitzvahed in Israel and the gift my parents got for me is a gold chain necklace with a Chai on it that means “life”. I got this gift when I was 13 and have never taken it off since. It means so much to me and I truly believe me wearing it brings me lots of good luck as well as positive energy all throughout my life physically, mentally and spiritually. As far as social media goes I feel like people on social media do a great job nowadays at accepting everyone for exactly who they are and posting about all the holidays to celebrate everyone. This is important because it creates a positive outlook on everyone and how even though we live in a world with lots of different religions, races, sexualities and so forth everyone at the end of the day is the same in some form of way and want to receive the same amount of respect. I believe that the construction on social media portrays Judaism in a positive way because there are always so many groups that I see on social media which include accounts strictly to showcase the best parts of Judiasm and its holidays as well as a large community of people that you can relate to. However, there could be a negative thing to this as well because people who are either anti-semetic or just not liking to see a broader version of social media who will try to add negative and harmful comments to try and make something that is supposed to be a positive thing and turn it into something negative because of their beliefs. Overall, I believe that people need to be respectful towards all people regardless of how they feel about them because no matter who you are you are deserving of receiving the same amount of respect as anyone else.

1. The Center for Media Literacy

“This nonprofit organization develops resources for teachers using evidence-based, peer-reviewed longitudinal studies.”

https://www.medialit.org/educator-resources

The reason why I chose this survey is because is provides multiple resources for educators to utilize that will help them with figuring out factual information. 

2. The Center for News Literacy

“Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism offers a curriculum toolbox for teachers with information on teaching media literacy.”

http://www.centerfornewsliteracy.org

The reason why I chose this survey is because it offers tools that provides educators with specific information that will help teachers learn more and be better at what they are teaching.

3. Developing Digital Detectives

“From the authors of the bestselling book Fact vs. Fiction, this book offers easy-to-implement lessons to engage students in becoming media literate.”

The reason why I chose this survey is because it shows the difference between factual information and fiction which helps people be able to be very imaginative or learn about the facts and get educated on what will help them become successful.

https://my.iste.org/s/store?_ga=2.152119161.1369969072.1664771969-780058141.1664771969#/store/browse/detail/a1w1U000002axWTQAY

(Developing Digitial Detectives, 2022)

My point of view in regards to all 3 of these resources includes the way that all of these resources are a huge help to society and people’s successes. The theme that all 3 of these media resources have in common are how well they are able to maintain an organized schedule for everyone to be apart of. 

Among all of the suggested research topics, I find the mass shooting at Sandy Hook to be uniquely relevant amid the baffling social divide in the United States right now. This horrific and seemingly gateway event took place back in 2012, as teenager Adam Lanza chose to murder his mother before killing another 26 others at an elementary school. Aside from stunning the country, controversies around the event came to light as influencers called the massacre a hoax and a planned attack. For example, the event is still timely as Alex Jones was recently ordered to pay 10s of millions in regard to his wrongful conspiracy statements following the massacre years back. “A Texas jury ordered the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Friday to pay the parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting $45.2 million in punitive damages for spreading the lie that they helped stage the massacre”. Others claim the massacre was intended to begin a major shift in sentiment regarding school safety in America and ultimately serve as a catalyst in gun control activism. Though there are many other mass shootings that occurred this year and in general over the course of the last few years Sandy Hook was one that really stood out to me because of the major impact it had on so many people’s lives.

While many persuasion tactics have been utilized to influence hundreds of millions of media consumers, it seems as though disproportionate and misleading facts and figures create the most issues as they confuse and spread quickly. Influencers all too often develop communities of likeminded individuals to further progress vocalizing issues, which creates a snowball effect while also artificially amplifying problems through media. The media can sometimes spin things to make them seem larger and more prominent than what is really going on in real life, however, this is something that social media had to make sure was very raw as well as real when sharing the stories that surround the problem. This is important for people to know as well as fully understand the issue of what went on, so people are able to try and get their questions answered even if the situation has nothing to do with them.

This issue is far from resolved. With several hundred mass shootings taking place in the US just this year, many similar to that of Sandy Hook, this country’s gun violence is out of control and scary. While the media tells us that this general view accepts these shootings as legitimate and acts of terror, many still feel otherwise, having ideas that a deeply rooted plan is in place to sway a nation to give up their guns. As the news networks do have incredible control, most will agree that this shooting has been widely accepted as a random act of terror. However, the media’s portrayal of the event was taken too far and continues to damage the nation until today.