Today's News
During our poetry readings in class, we discussed the poem, "Today's News" by Elizabeth Anderson. I thought this poem was pretty intriguing because although this poem uplifts African American representation in the media, I found myself still being able to relate to it as an Asian. Anderson writes,
"When the first / black Olympic gymnast was black and on TV I called / home to say it was colored on channel three".
This line conveys how excited the speaker is to see a black person on TV and how important it is to them. The imagery of the speaker immediately calling their family to tell them about the gymnast on TV just emphasizes how significant black representation in the media is and also indicates that it is so exciting because black people rarely make it into the news.
I just found this pretty ironic because nowadays, sports in America are largely dominated by African Americans. If you ask people who the best gymnast in the world is, almost everyone who is familiar with gymnastics and even those who are not will answer with Simone Biles, a black athlete. A few years ago, Gabby Douglas, another black athlete, won the all-around gold Olympic title and was one of the most well-known gymnasts around. Even my mother, who doesn't keep up with sports in the slightest, was familiar with her name. Not only in gymnastics but in other sports like basketball, football, track and field, etc., many of the most well-known athletes are black. When you watch these sports, you will most likely come upon one of these athletes. I think this really shows how society has developed and changed throughout the years.
On another note, the line quoted above immediately made me think of when the movie Crazy Rich Asians. When it came out, there was so much talk and excitement for it, especially in the Asian community, because it had a nearly all-Asian cast. I can't say it was the best movie ever but it was so significant because of the massive amount of Asian representation being put out in the media. This was pretty inspiring for me because growing up, on most of the shows I watched there was rarely any Asian characters. When there was, they were often side characters, killed off, or depicted as a stereotypical overachieving nerdy Asian kid with a tiger mom. Seeing a movie with all Asians as powerful main characters and with happy endings was pretty special and made me love the movie more than just for its plot and cinematic qualities. Even outside of films, we are seeing more and more Asian representation within the media with things like Korean pop, beauty, and dramas gaining popularity.
While Anderson’s poem was obviously lifting up black representation in the media, I thought it was cool how I could still connect this back to my own life and relate to it.
"When the first / black Olympic gymnast was black and on TV I called / home to say it was colored on channel three".
This line conveys how excited the speaker is to see a black person on TV and how important it is to them. The imagery of the speaker immediately calling their family to tell them about the gymnast on TV just emphasizes how significant black representation in the media is and also indicates that it is so exciting because black people rarely make it into the news.
I just found this pretty ironic because nowadays, sports in America are largely dominated by African Americans. If you ask people who the best gymnast in the world is, almost everyone who is familiar with gymnastics and even those who are not will answer with Simone Biles, a black athlete. A few years ago, Gabby Douglas, another black athlete, won the all-around gold Olympic title and was one of the most well-known gymnasts around. Even my mother, who doesn't keep up with sports in the slightest, was familiar with her name. Not only in gymnastics but in other sports like basketball, football, track and field, etc., many of the most well-known athletes are black. When you watch these sports, you will most likely come upon one of these athletes. I think this really shows how society has developed and changed throughout the years.
On another note, the line quoted above immediately made me think of when the movie Crazy Rich Asians. When it came out, there was so much talk and excitement for it, especially in the Asian community, because it had a nearly all-Asian cast. I can't say it was the best movie ever but it was so significant because of the massive amount of Asian representation being put out in the media. This was pretty inspiring for me because growing up, on most of the shows I watched there was rarely any Asian characters. When there was, they were often side characters, killed off, or depicted as a stereotypical overachieving nerdy Asian kid with a tiger mom. Seeing a movie with all Asians as powerful main characters and with happy endings was pretty special and made me love the movie more than just for its plot and cinematic qualities. Even outside of films, we are seeing more and more Asian representation within the media with things like Korean pop, beauty, and dramas gaining popularity.
While Anderson’s poem was obviously lifting up black representation in the media, I thought it was cool how I could still connect this back to my own life and relate to it.
I find that the shift in our society is pretty interesting. I remember that we didn't get to answer the last question, "Does this still apply to our society now?" and I think it might, but not in the same way as it did in that time period. As you pointed out, so many African Americans are famous in the sports world that its easy to forget that it wasn't always that way, especially since we aren't old enough to remember the time period Anderson is referring to. It's poems like Anderson's that can remind of the change that has happened and that change is possible.
ReplyDeleteI have some similar experiences. It's good that we've advanced enough that I don't call people when I get excited about representation in the media or something, but I think that this is a sort of universal experience that marginalized people feel. It's like the last line of the poem that's about looking for color everywhere. If you are a member of a group that you don't usually see in sports, media, politics, etc, and then someone defies those expectations, they make it seem like the world might become a little more enlightened about your group of people. Their perspective on that group of people has shifted to include another representation. It's exciting, and you look more and more for something that you can see yourself in so you can imagine yourself doing it too. The emotion is pulled of pretty well in the poem in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI like the connection you made with your own experiences. The poem was able to address so much in such few words, displaying the power of writing. However, the poem largely addressed black athletes on TV which has created a slowly created a stereotype that black people are only good at sports. While it's super positive that they were starting to get the representation they deserved, it did have some consequences. Its kind of like the Asian community only being good at academics.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting that you connected your own experiences to this poem and I feel like we can all connect to it. This poem lifts up black representation and I can connect this to because of Guyanese representation in American media. When someone from Guyana does something important in the media, I always seem to know about it. Even if I see a meme online that relates to Guyana, I see it. I like seeing people from my culture doing well. Also, when I see the UofI team on ESPN, I feel a certain connection with it because I am apart of the UofI family (kind of).
ReplyDeleteI think that many of the things we read can apply to other cultures that we don't often see in the media. This reminds me of what I heard on the radio the other day about how some actor shouldn't play Harriet Tubman in a movie. There have been many times where a white person has played the role of a person of different heritage and while they may do good sometimes, that is still cultural appropriation and it would be better if they actually had somebody connected to that history and culture to play the role. Having the people who are closer to a certain experience will make the things much more realistic. That still happens today, but I agree that there is progress.
ReplyDelete