overall, i enjoyed the performance. it was well written and touched on some very complex societal conventions. the play features 2 lawyers (spader & grier), partners in an established law firm, who find themselves the representing a rich white man, who suffers from white guilt, accused of raping a young black woman. the characters simultaneously address and succumb to implicit racial conventions, demonstrating that even the most educated can fall victim to the bottomless pit that is race. in a desperate play on words, the characters seem to be competing in a race to the bottom.

despite a robust topic and lively interactions, the content was far too complicated for the poor direction; the actors constantly talked over each other, demonstrating a heavy handed directorial style that caused many of the nuances in the text to be lost. the actors adamantly refused to reflect on the words of the other cast members, and seemed eager to deliver the next line as if they were reading a script as fast as possible. although this seemed to improve in the second act, the interactions never seemed real.

david alan grier was impressive, and was the only actor whose cussing i believed; the dynamic between him and james spader was entertaining to watch as grier educates spader on the ways of white folks and the souls of black folks. kerry washington delivers her role well, a detestable but sympathetic, educated and talented black woman, studied in the ways of implicit and explicit racism, facing her own prejudices. unfortunately the self revelations of these three characters are spawned by an affluent white man, played by richard thomas, accused of raping a black woman, but his white guilt is less than believable.

in short, very entertaining narrative, and but the direction leaves something to be desired. catch the matinee.

today i accidentally typed "flirtual" instead of "virtual." a simple droidan slip (thanks ronnie!) but a good one.

according to urbandictionary.com, "flirtual reality is the infallible state in which one finds oneself while romancing others online."

Exclusion from Participatory Media is an inability of a participant to participate in a preferential manner. This is dependent on the fact that new media participants expect an immediate personalized environment (or the ability to immediately construct an personalized environment); if participants cannot construct, an thus participate, in a preferred media environment, they are said to be excluded.

posted on TMZ.com

i think it is at :15 seconds when he realizes he's terribly wrong in saying exactly what he is thinking, but he's committed to it, so he better catch the ball and run mutherf***er. what hurts the most is the black dude in the back, who knows the inappropriate nature of words and derogatory slurs, but can't say a thing. oh mickey rourke, you [insert expletive here].



GLAAD Response: "Mickey Rourke is painfully ignorant..."

I often talk about my students, sometimes with glowing praise, and sometimes with an all consuming frustration. My time at USC has been an interesting one, and I have had the chance to teach students from several different departments around including the School of Cinematic Arts, Psychology, American Studies and Ethnicity, Communication, Business, and more. These experiences have shown me that concerns voiced by students and instructors about students' academic abilities is often unwarranted. In every occasion where my students have been given the opportunity to succeed, coupled with an instructor's verbal desire and demand for them to succeed, they have excelled and delivered amazing work. Furthermore, they have emerged as stronger thinkers, workers, and people.

Coming from MIT, I expected a lot from the undergraduates here, as I expect a lot from myself. In Spring 2006, my first time employment as a Teaching Assistant (TA) was for Introduction to Television (CTCS 191). At the time, the professor expected an average of a B+; this seemed strange as I was always taught that C was average, B was above average, and A was excellent. I graded my students first papers as I read them, and had to meet with the professor to defend why my grades were so low (B-). I worked with my students over the semester and discussed the theory of American television on their terms; I brought my own experiences and knowledge into the classroom and our sessions included a distinctly psychological and analytic approach to television. By the end of the semester, I had to meet with the professor to explain why my students' final papers were so high (average of B+/A-). It was a really proud moment for me.

In the Psychology Department, I have TA'd for 300 level classes (i.e., Development Psychology, Social Psychology, and Interpersonal Relations), which introduced me to a new student, slightly older and more directed in their studies. In this time, I observed 2 dimensions of student/instructor interactions: Concept Orientation and Grade Orientation. Concept Oriented students are willing to interact with the instructor and discuss their inspired thoughts from the day's lessons. Grade Oriented students are what I lovingly refer to as "grade grubbers," students whose only interaction with the instructor is to discuss points on assignments or exams. Concept Oriented students can also be Grade Oriented, but for the students that demonstrate high Concept Orientation, high Grade Orientation is tolerable [smile]. Detached students, who are neither Concept nor Grade Oriented, rarely interact in class, online, or in office hours. Some of these students do well on their own, and some do not. However, I believe that it is my job to make myself available, and encourage students to attend office hours or talk after class, but some students choose not to participate.

I have also had the amazing opportunity of working with McNair Scholars. The McNair Program gives students of color and first generation college students the opportunity to conduct graduate level research over a 10-week course in the summer. I am the mentor for students in the Social Science and Popular Culture groups, but I also have extensive interaction with all of the students. The McNair Scholars have given me insight into the academic mind of USC students. The program is selective as it provides opportunities for its students to pursue research that they may not otherwise receive, but I believe that these students' academic abilities are representative of USC undergraduates as a whole. In these 10 weeks, the McNair Scholars take an academic and emotional ride through the experience of being a researcher; they develop, run, analyze, and present a detailed research project in this time, giving them a taste of graduate education. For some, this time helps them hone their research interests, while others may realize that graduate school is not be in their immediate future; however, all of the students enjoy their time in the program and are grateful for the opportunity to achieve higher cognitive pursuits. More importantly, they often exceed their own expectations for themselves; they face and overcome doubts regarding their abilities, thus increasing their personal standards.

For many students, being tested can result in frustration. These inevitable growing pains are part of life, and this is (or should be) no different in academic life. I enjoy giving my students the chance to excel at every opportunity, and they have not disappointed me. Unfortunately, USC's vocal chants of being the best often cause students to believe that whatever they do is the best, instead of seeking to prove that they are the best. Because of this attitude, they may not demand the best of themselves. Students can be overwhelmed by what they perceive as "high" expectations, and often report increased stress, doubt, concern, anger, sadness, and other emotions. This can lead instructors to reduce their standards, resulting in a cycle that impedes students psychological growth. Although they may graduate with a respectable GPA, their cognitive processes are stunted and they may never reach their full potential. A college education should be more than an extension of high school; it should not be simply a purveyor of information, but a safe venue where students are encouraged to think beyond their comfort zones. In college, they are exposed to different people and different ways of thinking to emerge as more robust adults with greater cognitive capacity at graduation. Only these skills will allow them to excel in a world where facts and raw information are available to everyone at a keystroke. The ability to think in new ways is what will guarantee the success of college graduates' (USC, MIT, or otherwise) and if this is not part of the curriculum, the university has failed them.

Much to my surprise and excitement, I will be the guest at the Psychology Department's Wednesday Morning Coffee Hour! Invited by department chair, Margy Gatz, I will be showing pictures and videos from my camping trip across Africa in Dec 2009 - Jan 2010 while talking about USC.AlternativeResearch.ORG, an online repository of graduate and faculty studies at USC available to students around the university who would like to participate in research. Coffee and breakfast-type nosh will be served. Please come out to learn about research connections at USC and the faces I make when walking with lions.

I'm asking all of my friends from departments around the university to join us TOMORROW (WED 9/23) in SGM 501 from 930-11am. An interdisciplinary audience always promotes better discussion.

I came across this article via twitter from @calinative: Why Kim Kardashian is Bad for Armenians, which claims that Kim Kardashian (KK), is bad for the public image of Armenians. However, the analysis is very subjective and short sighted. Annie Gldzhyan, out of CSU Northridge, derides KK for being only half Armenian, and believes that her sex tape is the crux of her entire star persona. After posting the comments available below, I reread the post and was deeply offended by the starting paragraph, which I had hoped to post here as an introduction to the article. Gldzhyan starts by claiming that KK should not be considered an exemplar of Armenian culture because she is only half Armenian. Tell that to Black Americans and their relationship with Obama...

i am not nor have i ever been a Star Trek fan, but the 2009 movie has the chance to turn me into one. i've already considered mounting a Star Trek marathon to catch up on decades of a culture lost to me. on the other hand, my mentor, Henry Jenkins, posted an amazing article...

"Five Ways to Start a Conversation About the New Star Trek Film"

my favorite line: "This would work if it were the pilot episode of a new television series."

i'd watch it.

as a fan of LOST, the phenomenon of SpaceTime was more than evident; it seemed like a little review before the 2 hour LOST finale this week (no doubt the synchronicity was more than coincidence). and i was the only person in the IMAX theater to let out a little yelp when leonard nimoy appeared.

i usually cannot stand facebook quizzes. but every so often there’s a good one; i quite enjoyed “what crazy bitch are you” (sylvia plath), but didn’t like “what r&b diva are you” (jill scott)…

“what inner nationality are you” caught me because for quite long i have been considering leaving the states, just to get away from this nearing 30-year immersion. the quiz itself includes all sorts of interesting social psychological measures including attachment to one’s mother, individualistic vs. collectivist cultural tendencies, as well as concepts of the self and other. i encourage you to check it out.

turns out i’m an american at heart. i’ve come to grips with it.

http://apps.facebook.com/whatisyourtrueinnern/

my diagnosis:

“You are highly competitive and highly independent, although you also have an easygoing and spontaneous nature. In order to hide and mitigate just how badly you want to win, you have developed a thick veneer of friendliness — in order to lull your opponents into a false sense of security, yes, but also in order to actually tame your own natural blood lust, and most of the time it even works. Because you are so mobile and ever-changing, your friendships are always in flux, and the people who are your oldest friends may or may not accompany you all the way through life. Probably not.”

what would have happened if blacks passed and whites failed?

without cable, i cannot follow the confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee, sonya sotomayor. in the few minutes that i did see at the gym, senator orrin hatch was harping on the firefighter case where the supreme court overturned (5-4) sotomayor's decision to throw out all firefighter promotion exams when no black (or latino) firefighters could be promoted (ricci vs. destafano). the short sightedness of this discussion infuriates me.

i don't understand why we cannot talk about the converse of this case: if an exam was administered and no white men passed, the test would have been deemed unfair and would have been thrown out. the truth is that many exams do not measure the same constructs between groups, a research topic that i have been battling with for some time (measurement invariance). however, because the test moved in the expected direction (blacks failed, whites passed), there was no question as to whether the test was fair; everyone succumbed to the stereotype that blacks are not as qualified and did not ask if the exam itself was appropriate. was this test administered else where? is this the first instance of racial bias in the results? had the results been reversed (whites failed, blacks passed), the white firefighters would have been in an uproar that the test was not appropriately designed and would have fought to have the exam thrown out. i argue that sotomayor's "empathy" demonstrated greater understanding of entrenched racism and the historical precedent set by decades of exams resulting in false racial differences.

Here is an amazing interactive graphic available on NYTimes.com that shows the time spent on various activities. The available tabs offer a great visual on how time changes between groups.

After perusing the interface's different options, I was particularly taken with the detailed analyses of each topic (i.e., color) in the graphic. The user can investigate each area of time (e.g., eating, working, traveling, socializing) for each group listed. For scholars of TV and Movies, the differences are impressive. Television consumption steadily increases with age (demographics 15-24, 24-65, 65+) and men watch more television than women on average. Furthermore, at 9pm nightly, approximately 38% of the US population is watching TV or Movies (27% of individuals aged 15-24). Internet and computer usage was smaller than I thought it would be; the average time spent by individuals aged 15-24 was only 12 minutes/day and decreased with age.

the cover to The Charisse Collection UNCENSORED (2003) was designed to emulate the cover for Michael Jackson NUMBER ONES (2003).

These are my chronological reflections since Michael Jackson's passing. A pair of wonderful angels named Mary and Russ invited me to the memorial today at Staples Center. Those pictures can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/charisseatMJs

Michael Jackson died on June 25, at 2:26 PST in Los Angeles, CA. At that moment, I was in Lansing, MI at a week-long course on research methods with diverse ethnic and racial participants. I received an email at 2:55 PM PST titled "Michael Jackson is DEAD." I felt my heart stop as panic overtook me. [tweet]

I felt like a small piece of me died. Until that moment, I never realized that there had always been a Michael Jackson dancing somewhere in my soul; an Energizer Bunny that kept me going. Suddenly the moon-walking in my heart stopped, and I was viscerally affected. I wanted to be anywhere but Lansing; I wanted to be in NY at the Apollo Theater or Times Square; I wanted to be in LA at his star on the Walk of Fame; I wanted to be at home in White Plains listening to albums with my mother. I cried and cried and finally managed to fall asleep.

Saturday morning, I arrived at the Lansing airport for my 7:40 flight back to LA. I was trying to avoid the negative commentary that people felt obligated to share in the media. But standing there in this dinky airport, I overheard two men (White) voicing their judgment of Michael Jackson. I clutched my Bible and avoided confronting them. I wanted to ask them, "What have you done for the world?" "How have you changed the lives of billions of people worldwide?" Furthermore, they knew damn well that they owned MJ albums and could attribute some very successful dates to his music. Instead, I walked away and voiced my opinions to the attendant (Not White) at the ticketing counter. He smiled at me and said, "I know." [tweet]

I spent most of the flight reading the books of Matthew and Mark. When I arrived at LAX, I felt the calm that one can only achieve when returning home. I spent the afternoon playing with Lucky, listening to Michael, and doing work. Sunday night, I watched the first hour of the BET Awards and was touched by several performances including Jamie Foxx’s opening and Ne-Yo's performance of Lady In My Life. The best line of the show: "I want to thank all the haters for giving me a reason to do it." Wow T-Pain; so deep, so relevant.

The next week, I went to work, I went to church, and I caught up with my students, all while wearing my black fedora. On Thursday, a week after Michael left us, I made my pilgrimage to Neverland. We intended to camp but it was mostly a stop and go crowd. I touched the gates, reached out to other pilgrims, and headed back to LA.

The next morning, I waited anxiously for the press conference announcing the ticket process for the planned memorial. [tweet] Instead, they announced a worldwide lottery for 8,750 pairs of tickets. I began to reflect on the need for a worldwide lottery when it came to these coveted seats and posted the following:

michael jackson memorial registration complete: it took michael’s entire life for us to achieve a global communication system sufficient to handle his passing. musician, icon, humanitarian, superstar, communication revolutionary.

At this point, the negative coverage of Michael Jackson was seeping into my media system, and I found myself in defense mode. Threats against Michael were threats against me. A friend of a friend responded to the above post with the following: "And child molester. I'm content to remember only the man's music. Open the door a lil wider and you let in some creepy ghosts." After exchanges that involved Mos Def quotes and industry credentials, I responded, "What good does remembering his faults do? Tarnish people's mourning process? And for what?" I felt pretty good about that.

The truth is that people who insist upon judging Michael Jackson are nothing more than haters. They don’t necessarily hate Michael Jackson; rather, they hate the fact that millions around the world are rallying to celebrate him. They hate the positivity that these people express because of Michael. They hate that Michael preached a message of love that was heard by audiences worldwide who forgave him for his bad decisions (the only available fact), and continued to welcome him into their homes and their lives [tweet]. The haters' only goal is to snatch the joy from Michael’s fans and get coverage for themselves. I assume that they do not take pleasure in repeating these horrible accusations. But then again, maybe they do take pleasure in judging others, but that pleasure is rooted in the desire for evil thoughts and actions.

Today, en route to the Staples Center, a man got on my building elevator while I was trying to put on my golden (ticket) bracelet. He clearly saw the excitement on my face as I said, "We're going to see Michael!" In an act of pure hate, he loudly vocalized a frustration with "the celebration of a pedophile." I turned to him and said, "He was found not guilty, and Michael did more for children than you ever will!" I felt good about that too.

In the midst of the negative press, no one discusses the fact that Michael Jackson held the world record for most charities donated to by a pop star (thank you Kobe for that knowledge); no one discusses that he gave everything he had to help suffering children around the world; no one discusses that his accuser beat cancer because of the treatments that Michael Jackson paid for. Michael Jackson was one of the most giving people in the world who was forced out of the United States to Bahrain by endless judgments of his character, a character that none of the people judging him understood. [tweet]

This is not to say that I understand or can even begin to know Michael Jackson, but all of the accusations and facts are a matter of public record. We know what he was accused of; we know the evidence presented and therefore, there is no need to talk about what you think or believe happened. If it matters what one person thinks and believes about another person they do not know, then allow me to share what I think and believe.

I think and believe that Michael Jackson was an amazing human being. I think and believe that he had a talent unparalleled, and more importantly, his willingness to share that talent and himself with the world was beyond human. I think and believe that Michael Jackson was incapable of harming a child, but may be guilty of loving too much. The facts are written in the history books; my love for him is written on my heart. And that's all that needs to be discussed.

[tweet]

the following entries were retrieved from my first blog published in spring 2001. i was assigned to review a blogging site, so i published a blog (charisse.blogspot.com). its pretty scant, but a fun window into my 19-year-old self! although i see now that not posting regularly is a standard flaw of mine... at least my writing has improved.

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APR 29, 2001 8:43pm

This is my first experience with a web log, I'm not certain of what to write or what to cover. I think that simply putting my life goals up would be good for an introduction to me. Included is the personal statement which I used to replace the cover letter of my resume. I'm trying to get a job in New York City working in television. Just in case, you happen to be from a television company, email me at charisse@mit.edu and I will send you the rest of my resume. That is all.

My Personal Statement (Resume)

I love everything about television and I would like to be involved with what goes on behind the screen. Television as a medium is incredible, those who control it have the ability to reach into millions of homes and affect their watchers. It is a form of virtual reality that has changed drastically with the explosion of the internet. This combined media seems almost infinite, it is capable of leading mankind in many directions.

I watch everything from PBS to MTV. Granted, most shows that come on popular television nowadays are of poor quality but often I am amazed with the perfection to which a network serves it viewers. For example; MTV is no longer Music Televison, it is Miscellaneous Television for teenagers but the network attends to their every need, down to the commercials. Each network has its own character that it perfectly suited to its consumers. Television production is a service, it has always catered to its watchers and given them what they have demanded.

However, in the past few years, the demand has been created by corporations and people who are not in contact with their consumers. I am specifically talking about teenage pop culture. I think that pop culture is an amazing phenomenon and has the potential to be really good but in the late nineties, teens have been bombarded by factory made pop stars and no longer understand the power of their free will. I think that television is the way to pull these children out of this funk. My absolute goal in life is to improve pop culture for all involved (parents and their children) and make teens aware that they are the power behind the machine. In short, I would like to use television to teach a new generation to expand their horizons.

I’ve been a television junkie as far back as I can remember. When I was in elementary school, I couldn’t wake up during the week for the bus but on Saturday mornings, I was up before sunrise to eat cereal and plant myself in front of the TV for the next six hours. Eventually my mother would wake up and make me do something, but my attention was always on the tube. Don’t worry! This unhealthy love for television is characteristic of people my age and it has definitely become one of my hobbies. I am incredibly excited at the prospect of working for a television network and hope that this will be a start to completing my goals. My love of television can only expand by being involved in its production.

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APR 29, 2001 8:49pm

Also for those of you tuning in, I am an MIT undergraduate, class of 2002 I took a year off so now I will be graduating in spring of 2003. I am a 21S major, which allows students to have a dual major between a humanities class and science, my chosen courses are 9 and CMS. Of course this means nothing if you are not an MIT student too, coruse 9 is Brain and Cognitive Science and CMS is Comparative Media Studies.

I have to review blogger.com for one of my classes, Popular Culture in a Converging Media (web.mit.edu/cms.920/www). So if you have any comments on the site and how its applications have assited you in publishing online. Thanks! Perhaps I'll keep you all updated later!

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APR 30, 2001 11:29pm

So I don't have classes on Mondays, its nice, it gives me the time to take care of my errands and finish up the last minute (or all) of the homework before the week begins. Today I went outand got $400 from the institute. There's nothing like getting money back after handing over about $40,000 a year. I also received some pictures yesterday from the AXO LIp Sych which the Lambda Sigma Delta girls performed. Here are some pictures of me [LINK REMOVED, SEE PIC HERE]

There is also going to be a great spread in The Tech tomorrow if you're on MIT campus. You should check it out. This week is sober study week for me since Steer Roast is this weekend. 3 days of complete debauchery and guilt-free fun! I'll show you pictures later! For the time being, I have a ton of homework to do. I'm writing a series of papers on the media's influence on sexuality, femininity and the ideal female body image. For the last one, we are writing a paper on how the media's image affects young women and men personally. I'm sure as soon as I'm done, I'll post the papers for you to read, it should be interesting!

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APR 30, 2001 11:21pm

Today was slow and somewhat unfortunate. I was hoping to go and see "Freddy Got Fingered" (I had free tickets thanks to Sue) but everytime I went to go, I kept fucking up and I was not able to see the movie. I killed so much time that I am still awake trying to finish a paper for tomorrow. I'm doing ok work wise, I just have to remember that I'm not going to get a thing done this weekend so I've gotta reach a point where I'm guilt-free.

Hmm... just bloggin away. I had to read a series of papers for tomorrows class on psychosurgery. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the subject, lobotomies fall under this category. Its the concept of performing brain surgery to adapt the behavior of the individual. There are obviously many ethical issues with this, but beyond that, the papers were considering moving psychosurgery into the mainstream in prison systems. To decrease violent behavior, it was considered that electrodes should be placed in the brain of chronically violent patients to subdue them. Its all very sketchy.

Also, whenver I am exposed to new technology, I usually think of the worse possible situation that may arise from the given technology. Here, I can see a world where everyone's behavior is controlled by a small remote that they carry around like a cell phone. Everyone would be wandering in a state of undisturbed bliss. It would be equivalent to The Kids in the Hall's movie Brain Candy. Every one would be disgustingly happy and non-confrontational.

Once people become non-confrontational, where does art go?
What happens if someone gets your remote? What can they control externally?
The technology is class oriented such that the rich 1% will now have mental control over the 'inferiors'.

And the list goes on. I just find too many questions with the procedure. Also, the brain's localization has not be perfected. Who knows what else any part of the brain controls? This is not quantitative surgery and the after effects can vary from subject to subject. Its just not right.

good night.

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AUG 07, 2001 9:01AM

Hey, so I know that I haven't written anything since april 30th but I assume that there isn't anyone who is reading this. That's ok, I'm going to write b/c I'm going crazy. I hate my job. Well it isn't even a job since they don't pay me, its an internship. I work for this really cool company who is doing really cool things, some of it is stupid, some of it is transcendental. I was really excited to work here because the people were cool, the site was cool and the environment was laid back. Today is the beginning of my last week and I don't think that I could be more excited. I'm just getting sick and tired of the people here. Perhaps its because I'm the only woman who I have interactions with, perahps its because my direct supervisor is a dick and he thinks that he is better than me and I have no right to loathe his guts, perhaps its because I feel like I never have anything to do and I'm just sitting on my ass waiting to get yelled at. Either way, I'm ready to leave this company and this city. I miss Boston.