Response: The Cyborg

The idea of the cyborg being outside of Freud, and being outside of the creation of man is in essence true.  It is, as has been stated, still a creation of militaristic capitalism, yet isn't a Frankenstein monster that needs to be saved, its it's own functioning individual self.  Feminists, especially second-wave, see these cyborgs as a metaphor for their struggles and an excellent way to break away from the Stigmas of Freud.
yet they fail to take into account the fact that they are both human and machine.  Through out history the "other" has stood for what is not the majority (the white male), and a mixing of the other and the majority has lead not to cyborgs but to individuals with out a creed of definition in the other.  Like Wikus Van Deburg in District 9 when he become a cyborg like being caught in between the prawn and his own race he is shunned and hunted.  Even in BladeRunner the individual hunted is the cyborg, the new "other".  It is not human and it is not machine so it does not have a home, yet it still struggles for that which all humans want, to be remembered.  It is the reason for the final scene of Bladerunner, he has seen things that no one else will see, he has lived a life that no one will remember, so he saves Harrison Ford so that he can be a testament to the life and death of the cyborg.  The cyborg is still seeking acceptance in society, it has not broken away from the norms but is seeking out the norms.

Analysis 7: For no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself.

Admittedly choosing a white artist to analyze Langston Hughes can be seen as disrespectful or missing the point of his essay, maybe even trivializing the struggles that the Harlem Renaissance chose to confront, embrace, and make their own.  Yet he is a white artist in a "black" genera, and he is more than that, he is an artist speaking for himself, he is not trying to be black or white, "for no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself" (Hughes 1192).  So it is in honor of Mr. Hughes that I am choosing an artist like Eminem, the racial mountain is no longer just faced by the "Negro Artist" but by every artist.  Each individual most break out of each social stigma that is placed against their respective race, class, religion, or nationality.  Eminem is a white artist in a black artist's medium, and he  is excelling at it.

What you think, I'm doing this for me, so fuck the world

Feed it beans, it's gassed up, if a thing's stopping me

I'mma be what I set out to be, without a doubt undoubtedly

And all those who look down on me I'm tearing down your balcony

No if ands or buts don't try to ask him why or how can he 

(Eminem - Not Afraid)

Hughes commented on America's standardization, and that black artists were able to break away from this standardization in a way that white artists were not. Yet the middle class and rich blacks wanted to be standardized, and Hughes' essay is a cry against that. It is a manifesto against standardization, about accepting who the artist is as a black artist. Even today this essay is felt in society, rap and the music industry is being standardized.  The lyrics and content are becoming cookie cutter and so are the artists, they are trying to sell the image and life style, yet artists like Eminem break that image because they are outside of the norm. "We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too" (Hughes 1196), it is no longer the Negro artists struggle by himself.  The Harlem Renaissance has come and gone and affected mainstream popular culture.  There are those rappers who try to be black, yet they are white or latino, and then their are those rappers who do not act the part they are told to, yet embrace their own identity.  Eminem is a white rapper, he is not a "wigger" or a white man trying to be black.  He is the new face of Hughes, he is the new era of the renaissance, it is not longer a racial movement but a cultural one.  One that must be taken on by all of America not just a select few.

Hughes, Langston. "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain". ed. Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print. 

Response: Occidentalism, the western ideal

The orientalism and occidentalism are switching places in the modern world.  At first the two could have existed to give meaning to there opposite.  The Oriental know they are Oriental because they are not occidental, and Oriental is truly an occidental creation.  The fact that their name is created from the sheer fact that they are east of the empire of Rome. The slave in the master slave relationship that is semiotics, but one can not exist with out the other.  So they overlap and become each other.  It is evident in both western and eastern culture that their is a blend occurring.  It is no mere coincidence that in Blade Runner and Firefly set in a more Orientally influenced culture, the languages have blended so have the customs.  It is evident even in our society, Coca Cola can be seen across the mass orient, where as sushi, buddhism, acupuncture, and other oriental customs have grown popular in the two great occidental super powers, America and Britain.  India still watches the BBC, and Netflix is stocked full of asian films.  Many new horror films are adapted from the Oriental films (The Ring, One Missed Call, and The Grudge).  A large aspect could be because of the blending of the cultural identity and the populations, or the introduction of the internet, but the cultures have been merging since their first meeting. They shared medicines, weapons, and resources.  Occidental and Oriental are becoming more mixed, while the Oriental populace rises, the Occidental populace trades more and relies more on the eastern economy and community.  Wars and colonialism  facilitated the change, but the economy fostered the child. It allowed it to grow, and it will continue to grow, until Oriental and Occidental simply become ways to designate east and west on a compass and not east and west by culture.

Analysis 6: The Scarlet A and Easy Access.

Foucault, in his text " The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Volume 1", tackles two major concepts in the idea of sexuality.  The first is that sexuality was at first repressed, and sexuality was almost a taboo, but it was soon scrutinized scientifically.  This is to say that the need to understand sexuality caused sexuality to be seen in the realms of science, psychology, sociology, and other avenues of study, creating a power based off of understanding and finding the sexuality.  The second idea is that the study of sexuality and perversions helps create or strengthen perversions by bringing them to light or making them evident in the eye of the beholder.  This creates a drive into understanding and finding new perversions as well as classifying sexual deviance outside of marraige, I.E. Homosexuality, Transsexuality, Transgendered, etc etc.  It creates the ability to classify and sub-classify each perversion in an attempt to understand it, and in doing so identifies the person with that perversion. The individual now becomes a homosexual or a furry based on his sexual perversions which is not paralleled in say their taste in food (like a "vegetarian").  He defines these studies as a source of power for both the one being studied and the one studying.  The first gains power because they become aware of their perversions, while the second gains power because of the knowledge of the new perversion he brings to light.


Enter the movie Easy A, Olive is just a regular no body in school until the rumor spreads about her sleeping with a fictitious college student.  Now all the students at her school are paying attention to her, spreading more rumors, and participating in a rumor mill to enhance their popularity and power at the school.  The movie becomes a study of school aged sexuality as pointed out in Foucault.  Students are originally kept away from sexuality, but it develops due to the want to understand sexuality and gives the observers and the participant power.  The power on the observers part is a feeling of superiority over the "slut" (who brands herself with a scarlet A) as evident in Amanda Bynes ultra conservative character that leads a movement to get Olive separated from school.  This instance also creates power for Olive, now she is being recognized and is able to insight the crowd and control her fate (or sexuality).  By lying about her sexuality she actually saves (and later condemns) a teacher who was sleeping with another student, as well as enhance the social life of the "others" in school (the nerds).  Her relationship and understanding of the power, as well as the other individuals feeling of empowerment for being better (and a sense of schadenfreude by living vicariously through her) allows her to gain the ability to broad caste both her sexuality, and in the end tell the truth and dispel the rumors of her "slutty ways". Easy A is an excellent example of the power gained by the "understanding" of sexuality, especially in the setting of a school.

 Foucault. "The History of Sexuality". ed. Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.