Deemed “provocative” by the Denver Post (Ostrow) and a “Confident, Controlled Artistic
Achievement” by New York Magazine (Seitz), the second season of
American Crime is an intricate and thought-inducing TV series. The 10-episode anthology created by John Ridley tells the tale of a high school rape in Steubenville, Indiana. The psychological action begins from the very first episode and if the viewer was hoping for a cut and dry mystery, she will not see one.
Ridley takes a left turn; the victim--or survivor, depending on one 's’ worldview--is a boy. Not willing to merely produce a dichotomy, Ridley invokes a wide array of class, race, and gender to properly complicate the TV series. By doing so, the TV series is instilled with a core concept …show more content…
Because of how much strength storytelling has, they are central to color-blind racism (Bonilla-Silva 76). Of the storytelling Bonilla-Silva examined, he determined that there are two types, storylines, and testimonies (76). According to Bonilla-Silva, storylines are “fable-like” because they are based on general arguments that seem obvious or that appeal to common sense (76). On the other hand, testimonies are the personal details that uphold the storyline. They create the “aura of authenticity and emotionality that only ‘firsthand’ narratives’ can furnish” which “help narrators in gaining sympathy from listeners or in persuading them about points they want to convey” (76). Taken together, the storyline and testimonies are co opted to create the color-blind racial narrative through four major storylines (Bonilla-Silva 77).
The Rashomon Effect also inhabits these storylines. For example color-blind racists justified their opposition to affirmative action using one of the storylines Bonilla-Silva categorized
(83-87). The “I did not get a job for (or a promotion), or was not admitted to a college, …show more content…
A president allies with the line cutters, making you feel distrustful, betrayed. A person ahead of you in line insults you as an ignorant redneck, making you feel humiliated and mad. Economically, culturally, demographically, politically, you are suddenly a stranger in your own land” (Hochschild 222). When one is assaulted from all sides, sometimes one has to stand his ground and hit back, or even shoot back like in Tyler Blaine’s case.
III. Conclusion
According to the BBC, 58% of white men voted for Donald Trump. In addition, Trump won the rural vote by almost almost a two to one ratio, and did extremely well with the uneducated. In other words, the white underclass. Why did Trump sweep this subset of the electorate? Are they just bigots like so many liberals denounced on social media? It all goes back to the idea of selfish tribalism and storylines.
In a CBS interview, Jon Stewart affirmed that “tribal is natural.” Moreover, he emphasized that in the liberal community, “you hate this idea of creating people as a monolith.”
However, Trump voters are being seen as a monolith. There is more to it than that. As
Achievement” by New York Magazine (Seitz), the second season of
American Crime is an intricate and thought-inducing TV series. The 10-episode anthology created by John Ridley tells the tale of a high school rape in Steubenville, Indiana. The psychological action begins from the very first episode and if the viewer was hoping for a cut and dry mystery, she will not see one.
Ridley takes a left turn; the victim--or survivor, depending on one 's’ worldview--is a boy. Not willing to merely produce a dichotomy, Ridley invokes a wide array of class, race, and gender to properly complicate the TV series. By doing so, the TV series is instilled with a core concept …show more content…
Because of how much strength storytelling has, they are central to color-blind racism (Bonilla-Silva 76). Of the storytelling Bonilla-Silva examined, he determined that there are two types, storylines, and testimonies (76). According to Bonilla-Silva, storylines are “fable-like” because they are based on general arguments that seem obvious or that appeal to common sense (76). On the other hand, testimonies are the personal details that uphold the storyline. They create the “aura of authenticity and emotionality that only ‘firsthand’ narratives’ can furnish” which “help narrators in gaining sympathy from listeners or in persuading them about points they want to convey” (76). Taken together, the storyline and testimonies are co opted to create the color-blind racial narrative through four major storylines (Bonilla-Silva 77).
The Rashomon Effect also inhabits these storylines. For example color-blind racists justified their opposition to affirmative action using one of the storylines Bonilla-Silva categorized
(83-87). The “I did not get a job for (or a promotion), or was not admitted to a college, …show more content…
A president allies with the line cutters, making you feel distrustful, betrayed. A person ahead of you in line insults you as an ignorant redneck, making you feel humiliated and mad. Economically, culturally, demographically, politically, you are suddenly a stranger in your own land” (Hochschild 222). When one is assaulted from all sides, sometimes one has to stand his ground and hit back, or even shoot back like in Tyler Blaine’s case.
III. Conclusion
According to the BBC, 58% of white men voted for Donald Trump. In addition, Trump won the rural vote by almost almost a two to one ratio, and did extremely well with the uneducated. In other words, the white underclass. Why did Trump sweep this subset of the electorate? Are they just bigots like so many liberals denounced on social media? It all goes back to the idea of selfish tribalism and storylines.
In a CBS interview, Jon Stewart affirmed that “tribal is natural.” Moreover, he emphasized that in the liberal community, “you hate this idea of creating people as a monolith.”
However, Trump voters are being seen as a monolith. There is more to it than that. As