Thursday, May 18, 2017

Journal 12 - Mobile Culture and Kelly Loves Tony

In Sandip Roy’s article, he discusses the power behind social media connecting people with the same ideas together so that they can form a strong community internationally. Instead of the traditional way of meeting people through local regions, movements involving people from different countries and backgrounds are springing up more often. In fact, the gay South Asian community has emerged from Internet connections because they created a space for themselves for self-expression without a threatening environment. Despite media’s influence in bringing people together, it is not enough to form a strong community. In fact, Roy emphasizes the importance of meeting in person as it strengthens ties and allows for actual movements to take place. Without meeting in real life, it would not be possible for events, such as the Walk for Freedom and Friendship, to occur because it is incredibly difficult to arrange logistics online. Although media is a powerful tool to create a space for discussing ideas, we still need to be able to organize in order to carry the message to the public.

            In “Kelly Loves Tony,” the couple documents their daily lives together as they face teenage pregnancy and must learn to support their family in two different cultures and mindsets. For example, Kelly was an honors student who dreamed of attending college, but became pregnant at the wrong time. Despite the familial and legal obstacles the couple face, they still push to make ends meet and Kelly depends on her family’s support to help her chase her college dream. Although Tony supports Kelly’s decision, he still questions why she attends college when she could just work like him. However, Kelly pushes past the cultural expectations of being a “stay-at-home” mother and decides her own fate. Unfortunately, I read that Kelly does not end up finishing college, but she works with a different goal in mind: to send her children to college. Her resilience is inspiring and shows that although she could not completely break out of the stereotypes, she hopes to do so through her children. 

No comments:

Post a Comment