Final Reflection

 After completing this course, I have a stronger sense of confidence in collaborative work and exploring new forms of digital media. I still have a ways to go in mastering the use of digital media as evident in my blog portfolio, but I do find myself enjoying the discovery process in it. The group projects helped me get more comfortable with the process of creating presentations and lesson plans as well. I found the weekly reading posts that asked us to envision how we would approach a given topic as an instructor the most helpful in learning about the type of educator I would like to be in the future. I also grew a stronger appreciation for the ideas surrounding teaching media literacy to K-12 students. Initially, I intended to graduate this December then go into a teaching credential program that would allow me to teach high school students. However, my experience in this class combined with some of my other classes made me realize that I do want to pursue my master's degree in the interest of teaching at the community college level. I'm looking to start the master's program here at CSUN starting in Spring and I look forward to finding out what the future has in store. 

Weekly Reading Posts

 In terms of Nichol's discussion, his article "Race and Ethnicity in Film" helps me understand how class and socioeconomic status allows those within the same ethnic community to subjugate each other in the name of getting ahead. Parasite illustrates this concept in the ways that Nathan Park is unable to see himself in Mr. Kim due to the significant gap in their socioeconomic status. Yet it is for this very reason that Nathan Park is unable to see how his family is infiltrated by his own perceived inferiors. The movie echoes Nichol's discussion of "othering" and how it is used to often deceive oneself into the fairy tale of superiority within the global 1%. The underlying message of the movie suggests that the 99% is very capable of using saavy and survival skills to thwart the power of the dominating few. Nichol's work helps explain the motivating needs and greed behind the mindset that allows the ruling class to self-delude and justify their actions. The human tendency to draw a distinction between oneself and an "other" reinforces a sense of hierarchy that feeds a void with a false sense of security. The power that money and asset hoarding provides establishes that hierarchy and affords the 1% the audacity to maintain that hierarchy by any means necessary.

 

After watching Parasite, my understanding of Harvey's discussion of neoliberalism expanded beyond my initial interpretation of the reading. Initially, neoliberalism just felt like another way of describing capitalism with added details pertaining to free market rules. However, the movie exposed me to a global understanding of neoliberalism and the conditions under which people in lower economic classes live in Seoul Korea. The disciplining, cheap labor aspect introduced in the pizza box folding scene made me think differently about the outsourcing of labor that my former employer engaged in just to save money. They didn't even attempt to hide this fact and everyone knew better than to question it. A significant portion of our work would be completed in India by workers who were paid a fraction of what they deserved with an untenable work load. During meetings, perceived weaknesses of our assistants in India would be discussed and nominating some of them for termination was a regular occurrence. They were easily blamed for a backlog in work and we rarely got to know any of them on any sort of personal level. The family living in the basement in Parasite checked my conscience and brought me back to that time where I turned a blind eye at work despite feeling like part of the problem. Within the context of Harvey's discussion, Parasite reveals the convenient blind spots in the systemic exploitation of globalization and points a finger at the viewer in a way that provokes personal reflection. The movie is both a work of cinematic resistance and a veritable call to action.

World Film Reflective Essay