FOX Boycott Reconsidered (was: Andrea's ex-boyfriend)
Christopher Kolar
>From: gol...@orac.cray.com (Matt Goldman)
>Subject: Re: Andrea's ex-boyfriend's new attitude
>Date: 20 Dec 93 09:18:22 CST
>In article <2eqh3g$l...@mailer.fsu.edu> bshi...@garnet.acns.fsu.edu (Ben
>Shippen) writes:
>>I, for one, do not appreciate the unfair characterizations of graduate
>>students on BH90210. If we allow this to continue, before long they will
>>try to cast graduate students as mass murders. Next thing you know, Son of
>>Sam will be signin up for classes at 'ol CU. Graduate Students unite while
>>there is still time!! :-<>J
>But some graduate students ARE mass murderers and other psychos! Just take a
>look at the University of Minnesota's Physics department.
[admittedly nasty stuff deleted]
>No smilies attached here. The list goes on...
Yes, but anyone who has been watching congressional hearings lately knows that
television has a great effect on the people who watch it. Imagine that you
are a gratuate student and you don't have any role models on tv -- imagine
that our popular culture is telling that you are worthless and invisible and
that you don't even deserve your own characters on tv. After a long enough
time you would begin to lose any sense of self-esteem and begin to feel like
you did not fit in. Sure, you may go a little off and who knows what you
might do. You might even go to Minnesota to study physics, it could get that
bad.
That's why we organized our highly successulf boycott last spring, and through
our efforts we finally managed to get a graduate student character on prime
time television. At first he looked promising -- not only a TA, but a
resident advisor as well, demonstrating perfectly how graduate students are
exploited for their labor. We were finally going to be getting some credit.
But the writers have decided to put a different spin on the character. Now
he is evil and possessive and racist and intolerant. The addition of another
pseudo-grad student did not help either. Most graduate students are not
married to professors and do not get to the gym early in order to have affairs
with cute little freshmen. Quite the contrary -- we are mostly overweight
people who sleep late and who are laughed at by people under 20.
Of course, we are considering another boycott -- but the
damage may already be done. Already there is an anti-graduate student
backlash occuring because of the unrepresentative characteratures that are
broadcast weekly.
I ask that all of the readers of this group band together yet again and
contact the Fox network. Once again we could get them to respond to our
pressure, once again we can achieve fair representation for the graduate
student minority.
Boyctt FOX Until they Stop the Madness!
--chris--
--
/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\ The University of Illinois
Christopher G Kolar at Urbana-Champaign
Cognitive Flexibility Laboratory Internet: c-k...@uiuc.edu
Center for the Study of Reading NovaNET: chris / mfl / nova
Jan Penovich
Kolar) writes:
>
[stuff about how grad students are portrayed on tv deleted]
> Of course, we are considering another boycott -- but the
> damage may already be done. Already there is an anti-graduate student
> backlash occuring because of the unrepresentative characteratures that are
> broadcast weekly.
>
> I ask that all of the readers of this group band together yet again and
> contact the Fox network. Once again we could get them to respond to our
> pressure, once again we can achieve fair representation for the graduate
> student minority.
>
> Boyctt FOX Until they Stop the Madness!
>
> --chris--
>
You're kidding, right?
jan
Chris Walsh
I hope he's not. As a Ph.D. student in sociology (Univ of Chicago), I feel
personally insulted by the outrageously inaccurate portrayal of grad
students on BH90210. Moreover, my professional training tells me that
such negative images, reinforced time and again, can lead to subtle
and nearly irrevocable damage. This sort of thing always starts small,
but can quickly fester. I am wholeheartedly in favor of a letter-writing
campaign, if not an outright boycott. All the other groups on BH90210 are
depicted favorably: business people, undergrads, instructors (except
Brandon's sociology professor -- that's a major peeve for me: all my
sociology profs are great people!). Only the grad students are singled
out as racist idiots!
Chris
:^)
wold ann
Sure, and in your spare time contact all the other television programs out
there that misrepresent various groups on television. Lets see there's women,
men, minorities, inner-city dwellers, country dwellers, Beverly Hills dwellers,
single moms, single dads, married moms and dads, divorced moms and dads,
teenage boys, teenage girls, dogs, cats, squirrels, aardvaarks, etc... I
think just about every group that could possibly be represented has been
misrepresented on television, its the nature of the beast! I'd be much more
concerned about what little kids are seeing on tv, and guys named Bubba that
tote shotguns in their pickup trucks (I'd really hate for them to watch the
tv and think they really ARE a superior race) As for what the bh90210 watching
crowd thinks of grad students? I'd rather concentrate my efforts on getting
through grad school than writing letters to some silly network.
>jan
Stephen S. Rubin
>>Shippen) writes:
>>>I, for one, do not appreciate the unfair characterizations of graduate
>>>students on BH90210. If we allow this to continue, before long they will
>>>try to cast graduate students as mass murders. Next thing you know, Son of
>>>Sam will be signin up for classes at 'ol CU. Graduate Students unite while
>>>there is still time!! :-<>J
>That's why we organized our highly successulf boycott last spring, and through
>I ask that all of the readers of this group band together yet again and
>contact the Fox network. Once again we could get them to respond to our
>pressure, once again we can achieve fair representation for the graduate
>student minority.
>Boyctt FOX Until they Stop the Madness!
HEY, wait a minute...I though grad students, especially those with
assistanships were TOO busy to watch TV...Does you advisor know how
your spending your time???
Regards,
Steve
Grad Assistant at a Big Ten University who's too damn busy to mind other
people's business and has an understanding that being a GRAD STUDENT is
a temporary job at best..hopefully...I don't need no stinkin' role models...
^^^^^^^^^
Matthew Wyatt
It amazes me that all of you grad students, being intelligent beings, in
theory anyway, are posting 90210-3454-345-adef info. in the MP board. A
little off the topic are we?
As a future grad student, I thought I should start being grumpy early!
BARRY M. SCHLESINGER
>>>Shippen) writes:
>>>>I, for one, do not appreciate the unfair characterizations of graduate
>>>>students on BH90210. If we allow this to continue, before long they will
>>>>try to cast graduate students as mass murders. Next thing you know, Son of
>>>>Sam will be signin up for classes at 'ol CU. Graduate Students unite while
>>>>there is still time!! :-<>J
Has somebody been reading Doonesbury?