Some Content May not be Suitable for all Audiences

For purposes of my semester project, I am not currently using social media. This post is an analysis of my typical social media usage.
If you looked at my Facebook page, you would probably think I don't have a filter. For the most part, I do not. I was a stay at home mother for a very long time and had no boss to answer to, so never worried about what my social media presence would say to an employer.

Online, I am witty, never at a loss for words. My humor is sarcastic and sometimes self-deprecating. Aside from the rare mention, You might not even know that I am married unless you looked at my "In a Relationship" section. You are warned right off that I may not be your cup of tea, with my pronouncement that, "I am mean, crass, and rude. You wouldn't like me." If that's not enough, there's my cover photo...

My profile pictures are usually carefully crafted.

She seems fun, I'd want to hang out with her

My Facebook is a representation of myself that has her life together. She isn't worried about the decisions her kids are making. She isn't sleep deprived. School may be a challenge, but she's got it handled. She's fearless and always up for an adventure.
What you don't see are the same problems, worries, challenges, disappointments that every other person has. I'm terrified of heights. I've had panic attacks during races. My kids aren't perfect. And I'm just waiting for school to figure out that I don't belong here. I am incredibly vulnerable in  my everyday life, so I do not let those vulnerabilities bleed into my Facebook profile

 If "the medium is the message," Facebook and other social media accounts allow me to send the message that I am bolder than I may seem in person. This is not a false identity, but more a fragment of my identity. I am bold and outgoing, in the right setting. I censor myself based on circumstances. My husband's employer does not need to know that my favorite cuss word is "motherfucker," so I that part of me stays home when there are office functions. When I'm with my friends, that part of my personality comes out

 And while I will tell you I'm mean and you wouldn't like me, the truth is that I'm one of the most loyal and loving friends a person could have. I started running almost 10 years ago, even though I hated everything about running at the time, to honor a friend. When I started doing triathlons, I did one in honor of my best friend's son, who died at the age of 17. My heart still aches over that loss. Next year, we are teaming up and doing this again on what should have been his 21st birthday.

So, it might be easy to think I'm different online, if you got to know me, you would see that I'm not THAT different. Facebook just gets the highlight reels


Edited to add:
When I was telling a close friend about this post, we started talking about my social media hiatus. He stated that he couldn't wait for my return and I replied: "I miss social media SO BAD!" We talked about how my initial thoughts going into my experiment were that Facebook was a time waster, but now I've come to view it as a lifeline. His response was: "I'm interested in what caused you to change your mind. You're a tough cookie." - So, even someone who is as close as family, and knows all my insecurities and flaws, still sees me as a "tough cookie," when most of the time I feel more like a hot mess.

How Does "It" (1990) Represent Minorities

With the release of the new version of this story, a lot has been written comparing the book with the movie versions. I waited nearly 30 years to watch the original version because just thinking about Pennywise terrified me (and I'm a fan of horror movies.) Needless to say, I have not seen the new version.  This analysis will be about the original, 1990 version.

Starting out easily enough, how does this movie represent minorities? Not very well. For starters, its main characters are white boys/men with one lone female, a token black kid, and a Jewish boy who had to hit every stereotype to drive the point home that he was different. Even as an adult, Stanley becomes a "successful accountant," one of the more stereotypical Jewish jobs.  Even the townspeople are all white. Mike, the only person of color in the movie, is terrorized by the town bullies and marginalized as an adult. When the film opens and Mike is trying to tell police that the new murders are just like what had happened in Derry when he was a kid, he's basically told to go back to the library
Speaking of what they become as adults... The boys (except Mike) all leave Derry and have successful careers. Beverly too is outwardly successful, as a fashion designer,  but is still being used as the "damsel in distress." She is the girl who is sexually assaulted by bullies while neighbors turn away, and possibly her father, (although the made for Tv version of the movie does not make that clear. She is definitely physically abused by him.)  She is the helpless female who escapes to the comfort of the (male-dominated) Loser's Club. As an adult, she is a woman in an abusive relationship where she once again has to escape to the Loser's Club.

Much like we saw in the episode of Master of None,  the motivation seems to be to make a movie with "universal appeal". We can't have too many minority characters defeating the monster, because....then it would be an (insert minority here) movie. The idea is that a "white" movie is universal. Everyone can relate to the group of white men/boys defeating the monster. Right?

Like I've said before, media reflects society, reflects media. We see the images we believe because we believe the images we see. Women need the protection of men, and minorities are often dismissed. Given that this movie was made in the early 90's and was set in the 50's it can be easy to give it some leeway. I am now even more interested in seeing how the newer version handles this inequality of characters, but from what I've read, I'm not sure it bothers.

September Media Log

An account of media I've consumed during the month of September. I have a stack on Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, and Sociology textbooks I read for school, but I only added books I read outside of those assigned. I didn't listen to a lot of music this month. I watch a lot of terrible tv. It's my mindless escape from the rigors of school. Spending so much time labeling bones and parts of bones, and shadows and indentations and lines of bones...I don't want to think too much. There's not a lot of thought in a Real Housewives episode. I fall asleep to Food Network or Cooking channel most nights. Those shows are not listed.


Books
The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion
The Triathletes Essential Week by Week Guide
Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies

TV
Real Housewives Orange County/Dallas
Flipping Out
Ink Master
Midnight Texas
Mr. Mercedes
Survivor
This is Us

Movies
Despicable Me
Transformers: The Last Knight
The Hitman's Bodyguard
It (Original)
Baby Driver
47 Meters Deep
The Girls with all the Gifts
Gerald's Game

Podcasts
The Nerdist: Dominic Monahan
The Nerdist: Andrea Savage
Unqualified: My Favorite Murder part 1 & 2
My Favorite Murder: Sharpest Needle in the Tack
Up and Vanished - Season 1



Music
Got wrapped up in murder podcasts and didn't listen to much else this month


Recommendations
I love The Nerdist Podcast. There have been several guests that I either wasn't a fan of, or didn't know a lot about, and still enjoyed the interview. I am a fan of Chris Hardwick and he tends to get stuff out of his guests that other interviewers might not. It doesn't feel like a formal interview, more like a conversation you get to sit in on. The "Chilly Gonzales" and "Keanu Reeves Returns" episodes are particularly interesting.
If Podcasts aren't your thing, check out, The Girl with all the Gifts. This was a movie I reluctantly watched. I wasn't interested in it at all. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.