TOW #19 "Review: ‘Full House’ Sequel Is a Forced March Down Memory Lane" by James Poniewozik

In his review of the recently premiered "Fuller House"( A"Full House" sequel) James Poniewozik shares a very strong opinion arguing that the Netflix series could at best be called "not good" due to the its lack of originality, betrayal of the original show, and cringe worthy content. He humorously compares, "To make a “Full House” sequel “good” — less formulaic, more innovative — would be like baking an artisanal, organic Hostess CupCake: You could do it, it might be delicious, but it would be a betrayal of the product." (para. 1). Although I found the pilot of the show to be quite amusing, I have to agree with Poniewozik. There isn't much cause However, one could certainly argue that there is something good about the series considering that it has gained lots of attention and made the Netflix "popular page" within only a few hours. Additionally, it could also be said that the series was not made with the intention of reinventing "Full House," but actually allowing viewers of the show to reminiscence. Since the audience of the original show is probably 'all grown up' at this point, there is definitely something positive about the fact that the new show is something they can watch with their families and share a part of their childhood. Yet, there is something rather conflicting about this concept because it would seemingly be much easier, and much more accurate, for "Full House" lovers to just share the original series with their families instead of the newer one. Considering that much of the content on "Fuller House" alludes to the original, there is definitely some fallacy to be accounted for with this argument.

Poniewozik's apparent frustration is completely valid in the midst of a generation of television that seems to plagued with spinoff after spinoff after spinoff. Seldom is it that a televsion show, or even movie, of this nature can even be compared in success and quality to the original. This would be an interesting topic to get into, especially if it involved accounting in why it is so difficult for a decent sequel to be produced from such a popular original. Assuming that the author would feel similarly about other seemingly unnecessary sequels, I doubt he would be a fan of the next Harry Potter movie, not to mention the other many sequels coming out this year.

TOW #18 "Why Do We Teach Girls That It’s Cute to Be Scared?" by Caroline Paul

This week I was absolutely wowed by "Why Do We Teach Girls That It’s Cute to Be Scared?" by writer and firefighter, Caroline Paul. Although Paul does not have an extensive collection of published work, her experiences as one of the first female firefighters for the San Francisco Fire Department and her New York Times publication led me to regard her as a highly credible author. In her piece, she shares her personal experience in a convincing narrative format that left me pondering the gender stereotypes that are ingrained into us by society from the time we are too young to even realize it. I walked away from this article with a completely new appreciation for all of the times that my Mom and Dad told me to "quit being damsel in distress" when I got stuck in a tree or on top of the monkey bars. However, the reliability of the piece is not exclusive to girls who were raised by parents who encouraged them to face problems on their own but also the "10 year old girls who were taught it was cute to screech 'I'm too scared'" (para. 14).  Through her use of anecdotes, first-person plural pronouns, and statistics from the Journal of Psychology, Paul creates a logical, yet emotionally appealing, argument disagreeing with the accepted norms that teachers girl to be delicate instead of taking risks.

Paul begins by sharing several of her more daring feats as a female firefighter: "I’ve pulled a bloated body from the bay, performed CPR on a baby and crawled down countless smoky hallways," (para. 1) and ends her piece with what she believes allowed her to accomplish these incredible things: " I put my fear where it belonged, behind my feelings of focus, confidence and courage," (para. 15). These examples make her argument much stronger and also evoke feelings of admiration, as these feats are very impressive to begin with considering that she literally saved lives. Since her purpose is to not only draw attention to this negative stereotyping but also to get her audience to do something about it, this is really effective. She also repeats the word "we" over and over again which helps her piece feel very relatable and also make it seem like something the audience should really take an interest in. Additionally, the statements Paul utilizes from the Journal of Psychology help bring a strong logical appeal into a very emotionally based argument. The combination of devices helps her really achieve her purpose, as does the occasion in which the text was written. In an era of great social change, it is crucial that strong female role models step away from social norms and show the potential in all.

I accessed this article through the NY Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/opinion/sunday/why-do-we-teach-girls-that-its-cute-to-be-scared.html?ref=opinion

TOW #17 "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With" by Tracey Emin

I was first introduced to Tracey Emin's work in art class when I had the opportunity to do some research on her, and ever since I have been a huge fan. Emin has been a prominent figure in the art world for decades and it really isn't very hard to see why. Aside from her technical skill and unique design aesthetic, I think the most remarkable quality about her work is the unique thematic messages she puts forward. She often plays with the ideas of the way that one views oneself, and nuances her work with her take on the role of gender in society as well as the way that this effects sexuality. I think her work "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With" exemplifies all of these themes in a painstakingly beautiful way. The installation itself is rather interesting by the very fact that every viewer is encouraged to actually climb inside the tent like structure that Emin created and adorned with the names of everyone she has ever been intimate with. This ultimately makes for a very interesting situation in which viewers begin my questioning the artist, and then begin to question themselves and what it truly means to be intimate with someone. Without the structural components, the rhetorical situation would not be nearly as interesting, nor it would be nearly as meaningful as it is. By making her audience literally climb inside the inner-workings of her mind, she is able to open up a dialogue between the audience and herself and make them mentally and physically go deeper into the piece. Additionally, her use of texts almost helps her create a series of anecdotes. When I looked at the various names sewn inside the tent I could not help but think of all the weight that these names probably carried at one point or another in the span of Emin's life. Through the different application of the text utilized for the names on the inside of the tent, and the additional phrases on the outside, Emin creates a really interesting appeal to her audience. By sharing snippets of her own stories, she makes one think back on their own.