I'd like to bring up a couple issues we touched on in class about the protests, Dan Savage's visit, and (what i hope to be) the implications of the protests/student involvement that resulted
First, I don't just want to rehash what we talked about in class. You were all there, so I don't need to provide a recap. Instead, i'd like to take it a little further by suggesting a direction to take this in...
I'm sure we agree that there is nothing else that can be done about the MTV visit. We can't rip up the contracts that students signed. We can't demand that MTV edits their show to make it more "fair" or "representative" of the Student Body at Rhodes.
We can't reasonably expect that.
We *can*, however, use the passion that this quasi-controversy created. In the 3+ years i've been at Rhodes, i've never seen the kind of passion i saw last night. I also think it would be tragic to let that fizzle out. Rather than just a one-time occurrence involving students expressing their views, I think that we need to genuinely ask ourselves why we protested outside of Buckman Hall.
If the answer to that is "to protest for the sake of protesting" or "to get a few kicks on a Wednesday night", then fine. The conversation stops here.
If protesters were out there because they were truly upset about how MTV portrayed our Student Body (or, once the show airs, how they portray they chose to portray us), then that's something else.
In that case, I think we should pursue the principles and ideals that motivated students to show up and protest in the first place.
That's not an easy thing to do. Maintaining that level motivation and passion is extremely difficult. After the television cameras have left, after the provocative and probing questions have ended, after the frenzy has calmed, it is easy to let the issue die and move on. That's the simple thing to do. That's the predictable thing to do.
It's also the wrong thing to do.
So once the show airs, if protesters are truly upset with the way in which MTV portrays the Rhodes student body then they should make an honest effort to correct those misconceptions. They should give people reasons to ignore what a channel called "Music Television" says about who we are. That doesn't just mean that we just join a mailing list, sign a petition, or send out angry emails to the administration.
Instead, it means getting back to what we pride ourselves in. That is, living up to our reputation. It means, next year, being renamed the #1 Service Oriented School. It means reminding people that we are an elite liberal arts school not only in Tennessee but in the South.
I genuinely hope that this is the path we choose to take. That will be so much more powerful than a fiery response to a 1 hour show on MTV. It will speak so much louder than angry emails or mailing lists ever can.
So don't let that passion die when the MTV trucks leave our parking lot.
Thomas,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your point. I think that the fact that the protestors were disruptive (even though that is usually the nature of protesting) should not cause us to view them as being unrepresentative of Rhodes students. As we all know, when students AREN'T protesting, they are naturally disruptive here at Rhodes. The fact that the students took the time to stand up for themselves means, to me, that if it is the case that MTV does end up painting a "negative image" of Rhodes when the show airs, these students will definitely do something about it. Furthermore, as LIBERAL ARTS students, we should adopt the type of mentality that allows us to respect those who stand up for their rights, in whatever way they choose to do so. We don't have to always agree with one another, but we should at least try to understand where our peers' personal values lie and respect them for that.
I agree! We cannot simply tell Dan Savage and MTV that their presentation of Rhodes is wrong (if the final result even appears that way), but we must prove them wrong. We must let our actions speak for themselves. Building off of this attitude, when we disapprove of something at Rhodes, be it the food, level of school spirit, etc, instead of sitting around complaining about it, we should actually try and do something to improve it.
ReplyDeleteThis is all very true, in that, to prove that Rhodes students weren't just protesting for the sake of protesting, we must do something more than just complain about it if when the show airs it represents Rhodes in a bad way. Like you said Thomas, we need to do something other than joining a mailing list or writing angry emails. But here is my question, were any of the students that got interviewed protesting? Because if none of them did then are we protesting what they are saying? I believe you brought this up in class Thomas, that Rhodes has to be very careful with what we protest against because it could come off in a bad way. However, if those who got interviewed are protesting that their words are getting twisted then no, we cannot change that because we can't destroy the signed contracts but we can defend ourselves when the air shows in the right way. This all depends on though how the show portrays Rhodes when it airs, which I am very curious to find out and watch.
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