Final Project: Teen Pregnancy is on the Rise and is it any Wonder Why?

Bell-bottoms, side ponytails, boy bands, and tamagotchi are all fads that have come and gone in the last 40 years. The unfortunate fad that swept the nation in 2009 was teen pregnancy, whose rates are on the rise for the first time in the last 15 years. Just fewer than one million teenage girls in the last year became pregnant. Some people see this as shocking in a day and age where anyone, male or female, 15 or 56 can walk into a neighborhood CVS Pharmacy or Wal-Mart and stock up on condoms. However, no matter how easily available contraception is made, it does not change the abundance of teen pregnancy in popular culture and media, whether it be Bristol Palin, Jamie Lynn Spears or fictional characters. There is a double standard that television series and films about teen pregnancy create; it is bad to get pregnant as a teenager but the aftermath will be happily ever after. By creating this double standard, these television series and films are glorifying teen pregnancy and making it appealing to the youthful audience watching.

The first television broadcast of a pregnant woman took place in 1953 on the sitcom “I Love Lucy.” Onscreen pregnancy was controversial at the time because it was thought morally improper to discuss such a private matter publicly. Imagine how Lucy and Ricky would respond to ABC Family’s hit series “The Secret Life of an American Teenager.” The plotline of “The Secret Life” is constructed around the life of Amy Juergens after a boy she hardly knew impregnated her at 15. Throughout the pregnancy, Amy’s parents stumble over themselves to make sure she is given everything she desires. Granted she is treated differently at school, but this poor treatment only lasts a couple episodes and (what a surprise) she ends up with an adorable boyfriend who loves her and her unborn child. When the baby arrives at the end of the first season, Amy’s life pretty much returns to normal. But wait, now she has a whole new set of responsibilities. She now suffers through the pains of a part time job, which the audience hardly ever sees her at, and has to care for her fatherless child, who is a dream newborn; no crying, rare dirty diapers, and is hardly ever hungry. “The Secret Life” creates quite a nice picture for teenage girls of what motherhood is like at 15. It is a picture that is completely fabricated.

If life as a teen mother was truly that simple, ABC’s Primetime would have had no reason for it’s special in June of 2009 about teen pregnancy. Hannah McLaughlin was in the fall of her senior year at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Washington when her life was rocked by the news that she would be delivering triplets days before graduation. Life for her was not like that portrayed on “The Secret Life.” In a tearful interview with ABC Hannah states, “Nothing has changed for him, but everything has changed for me.” In the real world Hannah and the father of her triplets (all of whom passed away) are estranged, and people still see her as “that girl”—the one who got pregnant—and in her words she continually has an “audience of over 2,000 people and everyone’s watching.” Unlike Amy, who enjoyed her sophomore year with little to no glares from her peers and fit right back in once she had the baby, Hannah feels as though she “missed out on [her] whole senior year” and is constantly judged. Hannah hoped that teenaged girls faced with the question of sexual activity would see her story on Primetime and rethink it. In other words, learn by example not experience.

It has been argued that shows glamorizing teenage pregnancy, like “The Secret Life” or the film “Juno,” do not have a big impact on the way impressionable teenage girls see pregnancy. The people who think this should have a nice chat with the 4.4 million 12-17 year old girls, the show’s target demographic, who tuned into the second premier of “The Secret Life” last January, or the teens who rushed to the theatres to see “Juno” and helped it become Fox Searchlights first film to gross over $100 million. Teenage girls are unbelievably susceptible to the pictures of happiness that these flicks portray. If asked to discuss pregnancies, these adolescents will ignore stories like Hannah’s, instead discussing pregnancies sans the holier-than-thou stares, financial issues, and tearful confrontations that realistic teenage childbearing holds.

One main exception to the portrayal of pregnant teens as happy-go-lucky, non-vulnerable, spoiled girls is the character of Quinn Fabray on the widely popular television series “Glee.” Quinn begins the first season as the head cheerleader and president of the abstinence club but is soon removed from both positions when her pregnancy becomes common knowledge. The only support Quinn receives is from her teammates in the glee club, leading to multiple tear-filled scenes. Although this aspect of Quinn’s life is closer to the reality of teen pregnancy, she still maintains the handsome and talented boyfriend and keeps her perfect figure with just a slight baby bump protruding from her middle section.

Popular culture and media bombards young girls with distorted accounts of teen pregnancy, but what message is it sending to the young boys? Although males do not make up large portions of these show’s followings, the image of ease that they portray is applied to the father characters, if any 16 year old boy can be called that, as well. Where these shows should be terrifying boys by the responsibility they will have to take on by fathering a child, they actually expose fully functional relationships involving little to no encumbrance.

Television and film is about fantasies and fabrication. In the case of teen pregnancy, the fantasy of no complication that television and films create is detrimental. It is an inveterate fabrication that prematurely sexualizes boys and girls, creating an unrealistic and unfortunately appealing view of teen pregnancy.

Audience: "The New York Times"

The Oscars Review

Audience: “The Index”

Last year, Hugh Jackman hosted the 81^st Annual Academy Awards with ease; laugh out loud humor and unbelievable talent. Apparently in an attempt to meet Jackman’s amped up version of the Oscars, the producers felt they needed two hosts this year. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, two usually uproariously comedic men, completely flopped.

Unfortunately, not even the most beautiful ball gowns, cutesy clips of animated characters, or intricate dance performances could save what was supposed to be the biggest night in the film industry. Martin and Baldwin’s attempts at humor were pathetic and fell flat on the audience. They appeared onstage a couple times, and also completely failed at every attempt of a transition. Sorry guys, but “Oh my god! There’s Matt Damon!” does not serve as an effective subject changer and it’s just plain awkward.

Equally as awkward were the “Avatar” allusions: Martin and Baldwin asked, “is that the director of “Avatar,” James Cameron?” and donned 3D glasses, Neil Patrick Harris sang, “Take James Cameron from his CGI,” and Ben Stiller was painted blue like an avatar because the show was “Hitler heavy.” These allusions seemed particularly out of place since “Avatar” only ended the evening with three awards: best art direction, outstanding achievement in cinematography, and outstanding visual effects. Three awards that would have caused a huge upset had “Avatar” not won considering this film introduced an entire new type of visual effect.

The worst part of the awkwardness created by Martin and Baldwin was that this should have been a huge night for the Academy Awards. For the first time since 1943 ten films were nominated for best picture. Also for the first time a woman, Kathryn Bigelow, won best director.

In fact Bigelow stole the show from Martin and Baldwin. Her film, “The Hurt Locker,” took home six of the nine awards it was nominated for. These awards included best picture, best original screenplay, best sound editing and mixing, and best film editing. Bigelow likely took a little extra joy in her films dominance over Cameron’s “Avatar,” considering they are ex spouses.

Although “The Hurt Locker” was well deserving of all the awards it received, it was hard not to think of “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and feel sorrow for their lack of recognition. Although stand up comedian Mo’Nique surprisingly took best supporting actress, and Geoffrey Fletcher emotionally accepted the award for best adapted screenplay, it is safe to say Sandra Bullock stole the best actress in a leading role from Gabourey Sidibe. However, Bullock gracefully acknowledged all the other nominees in the category highlighting their talents in an extremely classy manner.

Jeff Bridges, who more than deserved his best actor in a leading role award, was unfortunately not as classy as Bullock. Bridges came off as an uneducated hippy-surfer with his abundance of “man’s” and “woah’s.”

Bridges’ acceptance speech was, unfortunately, not the worst part of the night. Martin and Baldwin set the tone for an overall graceless evening. An evening that should have been unforgettable was made easily forgotten by uncouth hosts.

Rewrite: English Department Reading Review

Audience: “The Index”

The snow danced outside the window in the deep blue sky and the smell of wet wood filled the Olmsted Room. Illuminated by chandelier, the room was filled with Kalamazoo residents, students, and family members. The Kalamazoo College English Department Faculty Reading brought people a diverse group together to enjoy multiple, assorted, and impressive pieces of literature.

All members of the Kalamazoo College English Department, aside from Amy Smith who is on sabbatical, contributed to the event, which began at 7:00pm on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. The evening consisted of various works of short fiction, poetry, and nonfiction read by ten professors.

Nonfiction, which with five pieces dominated the evening, can be seen as too dense for a live reading. Aside from Babli Sinha’s piece, however, this was not the case. Unfortunately, Sinha’s monotone voice and lack of facial expressions made it hard to enjoy the content of her thoroughly researched and educated discussion of gender and media.

In complete contrast with Sinha’s lack of passion, but matching her intelligence came Gail Griffin. Griffin read a piece about the murder and suicide ten years ago in the DeWaters Residence Hall on Kalamazoo College’s campus. Griffin’s voice caught in her throat when she rhetorically asked herself and the audience “What is my wound compared to theirs?” Read with the strong conviction and raw emotion of a person living with the pain of such events, Griffin’s piece was beautifully written.

Another emotionally charged nonfiction piece was Marin Heinritz’s stellar reading about her mother’s illness, “Craft Wide Open By Proximity.” This piece had similar emotional content as Bruce Mills’ reading about his son’s autism from his book “An Archeology of Learning.” Although Mills showed some signs of a nervous public speaker, it did not take away from the power of his reading. In fact, it added to the personal nature of his selection.

Amelia Katanski introduced an original style of nonfiction. Broken down into four parts, Katanski’s piece “Noble Truths” lined up with Buddhist beliefs and was a refreshing break from the abundance of simplistic prose the evening provided.

Although nonfiction dominated in terms of numbers and personal content, the short fiction pieces of the evening were the most entertaining. Andy Mozina, English Department Chair and first reader of the evening, opened with comedy. “My Non-Sexual Affair” though funny by itself, was made even more captivating and enjoyable through Mozina’s phenomenal timing and eye contact.

Equally as enjoyable was Amy Rodgers, a visiting English professor. Rodgers’ dark piercing eyes and vivid facial expressions made her process piece about Robert Frost’s son Carol completely enthralling. In the enchanting last line, “He does not look like his father,” Rodgers’ powerful writing could not be questioned.

Next came Glenn Deutsch pleasing the audience by reading different characters with different voices, in his two selections of “The Monkey Version of My Father.” When Deutsch’s voice changed from it’s typically soothing deep tone to a lisping, cussing teen, it was impossible to not be captivated.

Beth Marzoni and Di Seuss were the only two professors who chose poetry selections, and they were starkly different from each other. The content of Seuss’ poems were comic and crude whereas Marzoni’s was more historic and factual. This contrast made Seuss’ poems, “It Wasn’t a Dream I Knew William Burroughs” and “Birthday Confession”, more exciting than Marzoni’s “Rothko’s Room”. But Seuss, being a practiced performer, is used to attention and praise for her crass, over-the-top humor.

It is always great to glimpse a piece of a prestigious college professor’s life outside of the classroom. This reading allowed for insight into the inner workings of a group of brilliant people. It is an insight that all in attendance were lucky to have.

"Crazy Heart" Review

Audience: “The Kalamazoo Gazette”

Cruising around in a two-toned 1978 suburban, cigarette or whiskey in hand, shirt halfway unbuttoned, adorned with a cowboy hat and sunglasses, Bad Blake is the epitome of a country music star past his prime. Unfortunately Bad’s life story is no breath of fresh air. The phrase “recycled plotline” is far too gentle when describing “Crazy Heart.” It is still impossible to deny Scott Cooper’s cleverly written and directed adaptation of Thomas Cobb’s novel.

From the moment Bad rushes off stage mid-performance to vomit into a trashcan behind a bar and proceeds to pick his sunglasses out of the soiled can, his alcoholism and all around poisonous lifestyle become obvious. Just as obvious is the inspiration that will make him decide to turn his life around, which comes in the form of Jean Craddock, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, a younger aspiring journalist. With his winning charm, Bad tells Jean, “I wanna talk about how bad you make this room look. I never knew what a dump it was until you came in here” and so a predictable romance ensues. A romance complicated by career, children and life choices that ends in the stereotypical way that all savior romances end: not happily ever after but lesson learned ever after.

Jeff Bridges, who released his album “Be Here Soon” in 2000, stars as the country has-been Bad Blake. Bridges pulls off the hard living star in an inescapably eccentric and, with pants unbuttoned, surprisingly charming manner. His one flaw, if it can even be called that, is his phenomenal chemistry with Jean’s son Buddy, played by Jack Nation. Their chemistry overshadows that of Bad and Jean but in a way that contributes to the couple’s connection. Any woman would fall for a man who could light up their child’s face with a simple game of table football, and Gyllenhaal portrays that woman magnificently. With every flip of her hair and crease of her brow, Gyllenhaal’s pain of loving an alcoholic is clear.

The most surprising performance comes from playboy Colin Farrell who plays Tommy Sweet, Bad’s old time friend. Farrell plays the on-again, off-again bromance with Bridges perfectly. Whether pleading with his big brown eyes or stealing the show, Farrell wins the hearts of all with his charisma.

Bridges and Farrell impressively contribute their own vocals in the film with help from vocal coach Roger Love. It is hard to find fault in their soothing harmonies when singing together, or Farrell’s pure diction and Bridges gravely tone. Both men added personality to “Crazy Heart’s” original music written by Stephen Bruton and T-Bone Burnett.

Cinematographer Barry Markowitz uses simplistic yet stunning camera angles to add to the allure of “Crazy Heart.” Utilizing the reflection in a window for dramatic effect is just one of the many notable cinematographic wonders that Markowitz creates in this film, contributing to the overall appeal of the flick.

Although “Crazy Heart” has a plotline that can be predicted within the first fifteen minutes, the other aspects of the film more than make up for it, creating an outstanding way to spend an evening.

Stars Making Less Money...

I found this article to be very very intriguing. The discussion of stars making less money than they were a couple years ago, I do not think is a bad thing. Stars make so much more money compared to almost every other profession, and I'm talking professions that have huge impact on the world and truly effect people.

However, I found the part of the article discussing how DVD sales were down because stars only appeal to a 30 and over crowd a bit ridiculous. I love movies. I enjoy reading in the newspaper and online about stars, whether it be in movies, tv, music, or theatre. I am only 19 and yet I enjoy stars a great deal, so I think the generalization that this article makes is unfounded and poorly researched. Overall though it was a very interesting article, and I was shocked to find out that the amount of money stars are making is decreasing instead of increasing.

John Mayer Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this article about John Mayer. Recently, I have not been the biggest Mayer supporter (not really even because of his controversial Playboy interview), and I really enjoyed what this article pointed out. I also find it very interesting that society does somewhat just let him get away with saying crude and inappropriate things without making him truly apologize. It slightly annoyed me that the article says "Most of the apologizing, though, he did with his hands." By saying this, Caramanica is basically saying that it is okay to not apologize for unacceptable actions if you are talented. However, Caramanica does not completely write off what Mayer did, which I truly appreciate. I think that as a society we hold celebrities to different standards and etiquette and it is ridiculous. If these are the people who we all look to and represent our country, we should consider the standard we are holding them to. I really liked that this article addressed how "dangerous" it is that people are still accepting Mayer in the same way as before, even after some abhorrent behavior.

Live Review: "The Cripple of Inishmaan"

Martin McDonagh’s play “The Cripple of Inishmaan” should have been titled “Irish Stereotypes in Two Hours or More.” Packed with obscenities, alcoholism, Catholicism, violence, gossip, and more climaxes than seemingly possible, “The Cripple of Inishmaan’s” saving grace was the refreshing acting of Kalamazoo College students.

Set in unstable Ireland in 1934, “The Cripple of Inishmaan” is about a young cripple, “cripple Billy” as the townspeople viciously call him, who dreams of fame in America. When a director comes to film his movie off the coast of Ireland, Billy leaves his two off-the-wall aunts with the hope of becoming famous. This 9-scene play follows the lives of the people Billy leaves behind and, eventually, returns to.

McDonagh has been critically acclaimed for his black comedies, comedies that contain morbid, gloomy, or dark situations as key plot points. “The Cripple of Inishmaan”, however, was filled with too much darkness and over complication to be truly comic. A witty script was juxtaposed with depressing content, and therefore not humorous. Billy’s parents died when Billy was very young; various characters tell four different tales of their death, each equally tragic and twisted. When the first adjustment to the story is made, there is a sweet raw emotion that connects the characters. By the second and third adjustment, the connection is lost, the dialogue feels forced, and the sincerity is gone.

Outfitted in authentic, time period appropriate Irish clothing, the cast of “The Cripple of Inishmaan” was exceptional. The chemistry of the nine-person cast was palpable. Whether Billy, a believably crippled, senior Theatre Major Michael Chodos, was flirting with Helen, the bold and brazen first-year, Rudi Goddard, being teased by Bartley, a goofy, tall first-year, Alden Phillips, or watching his crazy Aunt Kate, a loopy Laura Fox (senior English major), their rapport was utterly charming.

First-year Sierra Moore’s Eileen, one of Billy’s aunts, and sophomore Sam Bertken’s Johnny, the town gossip, were the post impressive performances of the evening. These two were a step above the rest with phenomenal physicality, precise and unfailing diction and poignant facial expressions. Moore is the only actress whose expressions weren’t overshadowed by her stage makeup. Bertken would trick anyone into spilling their guts by flashing an easy smirk and batting his eyes. Whether it was Moore’s believably elderly waddle or Bertken’s inebriated stumbling, the duo was positively stellar and impossible to look away from any time they graced the stage.

Due to the set up of the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, Director Kevin Dodd had his work cut out for him. Actors struggled to maintain the fourth wall and flaunted their backsides to the audience, two big don’ts of theatre. However, with a simplistic set, the blocking was natural. Flooding the stage with a pale blue light during intense moments and casting long shadows contributed to the magical and dramatic effect that Dodd created with every aspect he had control over.

It is hard to find any fault in the Kalamzoo College Drama Department, other than the selection of such a ridiculous play.

Audience: "The Index"