This blog post should address the reading (Chapters 3 & 4) due on Monday, Jan. 21.
Please find an example of a recent news article that embodies the myth of victim OR scapegoat (please do not use Newtown for the myth of victim).
Share a link to the article and explain, using the Lule reading, how your article exemplifies this myth. Please use specific citations when referring to Lule.
Your original blog should be posted by 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19. Any comments should be posted by 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 20.
You can post an original blog as a comment to this prompt. Responses to a classmate's post can be shared by posting a "reply." Please email khettinga@ursinus.edu with questions or concerns.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete*Trigger warning –this article contains some intense sexual assault details…
ReplyDeleteTimmons, Heather. “For India Rape Victim’s Family, Layers of Loss.” New York Times. 11 January 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/world/asia/for-india-rape-victims-family-layers-of-loss.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&
This New York Times story on the India rape victim and her family’s mourning exemplifies the victim myth and almost mirrors Lule’s example of the Times’ coverage of the Achille Lauro incident. In this article, the victim is obviously the woman who was raped – her name has been withheld – but the role of “the widow” as described in Lule’s example is recast as the rape victim’s father. Heather Timmons, the journalist, follows the family’s mourning in their Indian village and makes the father a focal point of her report, similar to the way Rimer painted an intimate picture of the Klinghoffer’s home and mourning with a focus on Marilyn Klinghoffer. Both the rape victim and her father are idealized as heroes.
The rape victim, unlike most young women in India, was given the opportunity to have a quality education and she excelled in school. In both the text piece and the video supplement, her father provides anecdotal evidence about her determination to become a doctor, recounting a time when she tried on a doctor’s coat and asked how she looked in it. And of course, the details of her exceedingly horrific, random, and unwarranted rape are detailed. Like Klinghoffer’s murder, her rape and subsequent death in the hospital seem inexplicable, but the application of the victim myth, as Lule states, serves to “reconcile people to the seeming randomness of human existence” (53). In this version of the myth, the rape victim’s death was a heroic sacrifice that sparked an international outcry for Indian to reexamine its rape culture and policies. Her heroism is captured in her determination to succeed and provide for her family, the details about her defense against her attackers, and her father’s description of her fight to survive in the hospital as an act of “willpower.” Through the words of her father, Timmons describes the victim’s death as a result of increasing urbanization and declining morality in India. Just as Klinghoffer became an international symbol for the need to combat terrorism, the Indian victim became an international symbol for the need to fight for women’s right in India and around the world.
The rape victim’s father, Badri Nath Singh, is the primary subject of this article and while I view him as “the widow” here, his story is surprisingly similar to Leon Klinghoffer’s. Timmons account of his life follows the same “rags to riches” theme found in Klinghoffer’s and his heroic determination to “fulfill [his daughter’s] dreams” parallels Klinghoffer’s dedication to his family. But like Marilyn Klinghoffer, Singh is portrayed as grief-stricken not strong, leading his family and his village through Hindu mourning rituals and toward progress from this terrible incident: “I have not lost hope,” Singh said, “I will take my sons forward.”
I also think that the way the article is written actively encourages the reader to identify with the victim, her father, and her family, a sense of empathy that is intensified by the video piece. As Lule says, part of the victim myth’s effect is to encourage readers to ask themselves, “What if it had been me?” or, in the case of this article, “What if it had been my daughter?” The details of the mourning rituals and the more personal details about the victim’s family’s posture and visible displays of emotion also encourage the reader to consider what his or her own funeral would be like.
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DeleteI think that this was a very complex article to choose, as it exemplified both the myth of the hero and the victim within one person. Though this woman was indeed the victim of a horrendous crime, her tale was told through an interesting lens. The woman's father encouraged her love of school and wished her well in her endeavors as an intellectual. Her parents were always there to help and support her through whatever difficulties she encountered in reaching her goals. Even as a woman, she was given a place of honor in her family, a right which is usually taken by the males. She is shown to have done nothing at all wrong, and to have fought the best that she could on that terrible day, and thereafter at the hospital. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that this woman would have accomplished great things. Due to the manner in which her story is told, I believe that not only the rape culture and policies in India will be affected by this story, but also their treatment of women. A hard-working HUMAN BEING was lost in this event, and she should receive no less honor than a male would. This woman was a hero stopped short in her quest.
DeleteI chose to write my first blog entry on the victim myth described in chapter 3 of “Daily News, Eternal Stories.” The author, Jack Lule explains the victim myth as "an important social tale" (58) that "reconciles people to the tragic and seeming randomness of human existence.(22) This myth is about innocent victims and usually refers to death, however it can apply to other terrible circumstances. In December 2012, two young boys, named Ben and Henry, from Georgia were taken from their mother by their father. The mother had no idea why her estranged husband did not bring the boys back home as planned from a trip he took them on to Tennessee. She was desperately looking for her sons for about ten days. The media covered the mother's story as a victim story, portraying her as the victim of the tragedy of losing her children. Theresa Nash, the mother, went on CNN holding onto her two children's stuffed animals while sitting beside a picture of the kids. She was clearly showing she was missing her sons and hoping that someone could help her. Any parent would be able to relate to her pain because children become the parent’s whole life. Using the myth of the victim might have been the only reason these kids were found. Luckily, someone was able to recognize the boys at a hotel in Austin, Texas after seeing this story air a photo of the boys on the news that very same day. The mother is now reunited with her sons. http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/29/us/georgia-missing-boys/index.html?iref=obnetwork
ReplyDeleteI agree after reading chapter three about the victim, I think that this article really resembles the victim in a tragic sorrowful way so as you read this you feel bad for the mother and want to help her. It was interesting to read about the terrorist attack and how the different news coverages portrayed the children and the mother. Some coverages talked about hope for the return and that the father was a hero and then other coverages focused on the sorrow of the family and the mother. It was also interesting to read how even though this man didn't really fit into the hero category he was labeled as one. I think that this article clearly resembles the myth of the victim and the coverage makes you feel bad for the mother and wants you to help her find her children. Both the article and in the book and the article from this website are very solid in representing the victim and as the reader it makes you feel sorrowful for them.
DeleteI think that this article clearly fits into the category of the "victim myth." The media presented the whole story from the angle that the mother was the victim--somebody who had her innocence taken away from her. The Lule book talks about how the victim myth has been told over and over in various ways because it is oddly "comforting" to readers. This is very telling of humanity itself. It's interesting that inherently, we want to hear the story from the perspective of the victim rather than the perpetrator. Not only that, but it is interesting that we as humans root for the victim. We favor the "good guy" over the "bad guy." In this case, we favor the mother and watch the news coverage hoping that her children will be returned to her safely. This article effectively uses the myth victim because it draws an emotional response from the reader and provokes empathy in them, allowing the mother to become the "victim" and thus creating the formula for yet another myth of the victim news story.
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/13/costa-concordia-disaster-anniversary-victims-shipwreck_n_2467324.html
ReplyDeleteThis article in the Huffington Post details the ceremonies held to mark the one year anniversary of the Costa Concordia shipwreck. This nautical disaster occurred off the coast of Italy and claimed the lives of 32 people. The anniversary was marked by several tributes including a moment of silence and the unveiling of a memorial plaque. Families of the deceased also threw flowers into the sea to honor those that were lost.
This news coverage provides a good example of the myth of the victim. Lule (2001) states that the victim myth serves to reconcile people to random deaths and unfortunate fates (p.53). Within the perpetual myth of the victim there are innocent individuals who are subjected to a coincidental and a disastrous fate (Lule, 2001, p. 54). Lule (2001) suggests that news coverage, “elevates and transforms the victim into a hero, a person whose life story is gathered and told, whose passing is marked and mourned” (p.54). In the news coverage of the Huffington Post, the victims are manifested in both those who lost their lives and their surviving families. Those who lost their lives are portrayed as meeting untimely deaths caused by the carelessness of the ship’s captain. Their surviving families are also portrayed as victims who are left in agony to deal with unexpected losses. The Huffington Post coverage also serves to transform the victims into heroes by gathering personal accounts from surviving family members and providing detailed descriptions of the memorial services commemorating the victims that had died. By honoring the victims and bringing attention to their lives, the article embodies the myth of the victim as described by Lule (2001).
In addition, Lule (2001) states that the myth of the victim can embody the symbol of self, that is through these reports Lule states that, “ I can view my own passing, see the effect of my death, hear testimony about the value of my life” (p. 56). This is also true within The Huffington Post coverage of the Costa Concordia anniversary. By obtaining statements from close family members of the deceased, and including information about families weeping at Mass and running their fingers over the names on the memorial plaque, one feels intimately close to the story, as if they were witnesses to their own life or death.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/notre-dame-football-star-manti-teo-dead-girlfriend/story?id=18232374
ReplyDeleteNotre Dame: Football Star Manti Te'o Was 'Catfished' in Girlfriend Hoax
This article from ABC World News details the nationally recognized hoax of Notre Dame Football star Manti Te’o and his recent interview about the tragic and sullen death of his girlfriend. Recent reports are now claiming that the college football player was duped and deceived after he began an online relationship with a woman whom he believed to be someone she was not.
The head athletic director for Notre Dame called Te’o the victim in the situation and said that Notre Dame believes the football player was wrongfully tricked. In his book “Daily News, Eternal Stories,” author Jack Lule explains that the myth of the victim in news reporting is “an attempt to reconcile people to the vagaries of human existence-to cruel fate, to bizarre happenstance, to death itself.” (Lule 43) In the case of Manti Te’o , the entire Notre Dame athletic organization is insisting that he is the victim in this situation due to the recent series of events that led Te’o to believe the woman he met online was not who she claimed to be and had also, tragically passed. Comparison of Te’o’s story has even been made to the popular movie “Catfish,” based on a story about a person at the other end of an online relationship who turned out to be nothing like their online persona. The victim in both cases would be classified as the person who believed the Internet falsehood.
This article exemplifies Lule’s myth of the victim because it challenges readers to see all sides of the story and paints a picture of the football star being the ultimate victim of trickery after the online deception played out and publically aired. While Lule points out that myths of the victim can portray victims as heroes and honorable people, in this article, Te’o is depicted as a forlorn and confused college athlete who wished to innocently meet someone, via the Internet, and was deeply saddened when his attempt went horribly wrong.
While an athletic director may act as a primary supporter of Te'o, the article here seems to take a 3rd party approach. Our author does not agree, disagree or buy into anyone's story. This is unbiased journalism.
DeleteThe article does lend a few lines to Te'o's defense where he states he was just as shocked as everyone else. However, this article also mentions Deadspin's take on the situation, and they're hardly as impressed by the athlete's said ignorance. In fact, many other sources say this is an act of self-publicity: a could-be football legend at the height of his (potential) career, feigning the death of a loved one to inch the spotlight closer on his victories.
The wiring from this article and the archetype of the victim feels loose here. Part of the victim in news is the moment of introspection within the reader - could my life mean something? Am I part of a bigger picture? Sure, Te'o may have been caught with his parts down, or maybe he truly did suffer a great loss at a crucial time. Either way, this specific article is careful to not frame Te'o in this way because of all the smoke, mirrors, and counter arguments floating around on the web right now. I absolutely see elements of the victim here, but the examples are a few passes away from being razor sharp.
And just to clarify, Catfish was released two or three years ago. I think the man in the article brought it up purely for comparisons sake.
That is an interesting article and I really liked how you simplified/ translated what Lule said for better understanding. And how you mentioned that Manti Te’o was also a victim because the women turned out to be someone else. Another point I think you could make is that Te’o can also play the role of the “widow” because when it comes down to this internet relationship that was going on he is the one left behind. In the Daily News, Eternal Stories, Lule talks about how the one left behind “the widow” becomes the focus of the news, and a major source for information. Lule 42-43. I feel like this story would have the same set-up because there would be no else to talk to about the relationship.
DeleteWith the whole world in shock these days about this bizarre story of Manti Te’o and his alleged relationship, I don’t think the Lule reading about victims in the media could have come at a better time. From the ABC article, I agree with Marina in saying that they clearly portray Manti as the victim caught up in this hoax. I found this to be very interesting because I have been following this story since it developed last Wednesday, and there have been all kinds of different opinions forming throughout the media ever since it came out. Some people see him and the “bad guy” in this story and are completely disgusted with his behavior; however there are others who see him as the victim and feel bad for him. The original Deadspin article did not make him out to be the victim, but rather the villain who was playing games with everyone, trying to gain positive publicity. Notre Dame Officials are clearly looking to defend Te’o and make sure people understand he is the victim, and this was proven by their athletic director Jack Swarbrick when he said, “There's a lot of tragedy here, there's a lot of sorrow here."
DeleteIn the Lule reading, he discussed the victim being a hero in many cases of journalism, and I believe this case can be applied to the Te’o situation. Manti was arguably on the best college football team in America at Notre Dame, and was their best player. With the support that Notre Dame has throughout the entire county, many people saw Te’o as being almost like a hero figure to them, since Notre Dame has such a rich tradition of successful football. To be the best player, on the best team, many people looked up to Te’o and saw him as an idol. Very similarly, when we think of hero’s in the media today, they share a lot of the same qualities Te’o had before this story broke; a leader, strong willed, charismatic, and focused. All these characteristics could be seen in Te’o both on and off the field, however when this story broke, it makes people question what he really is all about. For those who believe he is the victim, as it was seen in the ABC article, Lule says, “The victim was portrayed not as a sufferer of ill fortune but as a hero.” (Lule, 48)This quote directly relates to how people view Te’o as the victim in this hoax, and he was dragged into this scenario without knowing the truth. It is hard to decide what to actually believe in this whole story because of all the different viewpoints the media raises, but this raises the question of will you believe certain things based off the way the media represents it.
I thought the article was a very interesting one. I feel as though the article painted a different type of perspective that contradicted what most of the media was conveying all throughout last week. When i heard about the whole Te'o situation i firstly read the article on deadspin. (where the story first broke) The deadspin article conveyed Manti Te'o as a sort of villainous figure as i felt this article (though mostly unbiased) showed him as more of a victim figure.
DeleteOn pg 43 Lule says "news reporters use dramatic details of death to develop a compelling myth: the sacrifice of the victim" He also says "Victims are sanctified and exalted in the stories of news". In ABC's article i thought the author used effective quotes such as Te'o talking about him losing the love of his life and also the AD's quote about Te'o being the most trustworthy person hes ever met and how he may never trust again. It seems the author looks to get Te'o a pardon from what could be potentially the biggest sports hoax in recent history (that and Lance Armstrong)by using the strategy Lule mentions on pg 43. The author uses a bit of ethos also to try to tug at the readers heart strings and i believe with that strategy partnered with the quotes as stated before, Manti Te'o is portrayed as a "victim".
It was really interesting to me that you chose the Manti Te'o story for this comparison to the myth of the victim. There have a variety of ways in which Manti Te'o was portrayed in news articles throughout the past few months. It is interesting to look at this in conjunction with reading Lule's Daily News, Eternal Stories.
DeleteFirst, Te'o was portrayed as the "victim as a hero," similar to what Lule explains on p. 48. Manti Te'o, after receiving news of two close deaths- his grandmother and his girlfriend within 24 hours, contributes significantly to a Notre Dame win over Michigan State the same day. This provided an incredibly inspirational story for all sportswriters throughout the country.
In the past week, since Deadspin first reported the story of Te'o's girlfriend's death being a hoax, there have been many conflicting opinions on Manti Te'o. In Deadspin's article, he is depicted in a negative way, similarly to the myth of the scapegoat described by Lule in chapter 4. The article reveals a large amount of details about the situation, several implying that Manti Te'o played a role in this hoax in an attempt to receive more publicity.
Later, in the article Marina cited, the article quotes Manti Te'o, "This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online." This article depicts him as more of a victim, and references victims from the MTV show Catfish as a comparison to the Manti Te'o story.
Overall, I like that you picked the Manti Te'o story to look at the myth of a victim. It is interesting to see how many different angles a news story could take, and how it effects the portrayal of the main subject- in this case Manti Te'o.
Paul Michaud
ReplyDeletehttp://www.alternet.org/story/70576/barry_bonds%3A_baseball%27s_scapegoat
This article offered by alternet.org written by Earl Hutchinson refers to Barry Bonds being the scapegoat of the Major League Baseball association. In reading Jack Lule's, Daily News, Eternal Stories, the scapegoat is defined as, "The misfortunes and faults of society that are transferred to an individual or sacrificial animal who is then driven, literally or symbolically, out of society, cleansing and purifying those left behind. As opposed to the Hero, the scapegoat is portrayed as embodying the sins of society"(Lule 63). For quite sometime Barry Bonds has been labeled as the scapegoat even though hundreds of profesional baseball players have taken illegal banned substances from the MLB. Barry Bonds has been blamed so much and looked upon as a cheater to the game, because of his values in society and the fact that he owns the record for most home runs in a major league career. Many think Bond's is one of the best hitters of all time, but due to his use of illegal human growth hormones he is not well liked at all and often times blamed for the decreasing interest and loyalty in the MLB.
This article talks about how Bonds, was a hero to many children and a role model but his behavior was terrible and he was a very stuck up guy who didn't care much about anyone but himself. Many people often times compared Barry Bond's to OJ Simpson. This article goes on to explain how there are so many players taking illegal human growth hormones but since Bonds holds the record for most home runs hit, which is one of the most important records of all time he is label as evil in the baseball world. Lule explains how the scapegoat is almost one to blame and uses the example of the Black Panther Party. This can be related to Bonds in many ways. In some aspects people begin to feel bad for Bonds because he is getting labeled for everything wrong with the MLB, while many other great name players have also done what he did. Just to name a few, Mark Mcguire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Ryan Braun. Clearly this article portrays Bonds as the scapegoat and also blames him for having lied to the grand jury and it really shows the people why he has degraded the wonderful game of baseball. It is clear that this article is portraying Bonds as the scapegoat and it is trying to make its readers realize what he has done and why he can be labeled as one.
Sabrina's Post....
ReplyDeleteJoe Paterno as Scapegoat
When Lule said, "The Scapegoat has origins in the quite natural practice of transferring a physical load to another's shoulders, usually a beast of burden, such as a mule or an ox...The misfortunes and faults of society are transferred to an individual or sacrificial animal (like a goat) who is then driven, literally or symbolically, out of society, cleansing and purifying those left behind" (63), I immediately thought of Joe Paterno. The Penn State scandal was met with fierce reactions and a call for justice or righting the wrongs of the cover-up. This righting of wrongs fell upon the shoulders of the idolized Paterno. It was evident that Paterno was aware of Sandusky's actions and did not do enough to make sure they were stopped, which caused many to place blame on him. In this US News article (http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2012/07/25/joe-paterno-is-the-ncaas-scapegoat), Roff points out the use of Paterno as scapegoat of the NCAA, but he was also the scapegoat of the media. When the scandal first arrived on the scene, I remember there being just as many, if not more articles about Paterno than Sandusky. Sandusky was the person who actually committed the crimes, but the media (and therefore the public) was focused on Paterno's disappointing handling of the situation. All the bad press culminated in the removal of the statue of Paterno along with Paterno's sterling reputation. Shortly after the scandal, Paterno died, stripped of his status as a great coach and Penn State superstar. Paterno did report Sandusky to his superiors, but his superiors lacked to take action. The media did not focus on Paterno's superiors' lack of action, instead they vilified Paterno himself, showing Lule's sentiment that "myth offers order but also demands order" (63).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/grandfather-of-aurora-vic_0_n_1935880.html
ReplyDeleteThis Huffinton Post article tells readers of Robert Sullivan's, grand-father of the youngest aurora victim, robbery and loss. Just months after the death of his grand-daughter Sullivan's home was burglarized. Amomgst the things that were taken were cameras, some of which contained the very last photos the Sullivan had taken of his grand-daughter. Sullivan is reported to be begging for the memory cards with the pictures to be safely returned and nothing else. Lt. Matthew Murray states, "It is an unfortunate thing. To be struck twice by a tradgedy is so hard". In the article we are reminded of the famous photo of the adorable young girl licking an ice cream cone.
This article is exemplary of Lule's Chaper 3 of "Daily News, Eternal Stories", because Sullivan is not only portrayed as a victim suffering from one tradgedy, but the same tradgedy twice. In his book Lule states, "an innocent victim--guilty only of coincidence, bad timing, the unfortunate fate of being in the wrong place at the wrong time"(54). It is coincidence that when his home was burglarized photos of his recently deceased grand-daughter were also taken. It is bad timing that the pictures were stolen after the recent death, and both him and his wife were not home, so they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I agree with Deanna, that this article is very much applicable to the themes surrounding the myth of the victim as described in Chapter 3 of Jack Lule’s Daily News, Eternal Stories. However, I feel that the article differs slightly from what Lule said in terms of the newspapers centering its news coverage on the family’s perspective. I found it interesting how this article on the surface is purely focused on the grandparents of Veronica, however it only had one line regarding Veronica’s mother. Now, to me the mother’s story also falls under this idea of being at the “wrong place at the wrong time”. Furthermore, the line that mentions the mother is not a quote, its merely information regarding the mother’s personal tragedy, yet it does not describe the true tragedy of losing her daughter. The article would present a much stronger case for falling under the myth of the victim if it included more quotes from the mother’s perspective, or other townspeople who knew Veronica.
DeleteThis New York Times article covers the story of Sunando Sen, a Hindu man who was fatally pushed in front of a subway train in Queens, NY in late December. He was pushed by a woman by the name of Erika Menedez, who decided that he was either Muslim or Hindu. She had no other reasoning, and said “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslim ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers…” Sen was pushed from behind and had no chance to defend himself, or even to see what was coming. He was the victim of a senseless hate crime.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the beginning of the article focuses on the accused woman, it slowly moves into uncovering what kind of person Sunando Sen really was. As Lule explains in his book, Daily News, Eternal Stories, the victim is often portrayed as a hero after he is victimized. He quotes psychologist Carl Jung in saying “Over and over again one hears a tale describing a hero’s miraculous but humble birth, his proof of great strength, his battle with evil, and his fall through betrayal or heroic sacrifice that ends in his death.” (Lule 43, 44) In the article, Sen is described as a hardworking man who “after years of saving money” was able to open his own copying business. His roommates portrayed him as a gentle and kind man who they respected. One roommate said that he “admired the respect that Mr. Sen showed for those who saw the world differently than he did. Sen was well-liked and his “humble beginnings” and his accepting attitude for all others gave him the heroic disposition in the article.
Because this article also touched on the subject of hate crimes regarding one’s religion, Sen became an icon of sacrifice for a much larger world issue. The myth of the victim, according to Lule, also very often creates a hero out of the victim by showing how he or she died as a sacrifice for an issue that affects the world. The same idea was applied to the story of Leon Klinghoffer. The idea of Sen’s death as a sacrifice is able to make this tragic story more palatable to those who are trying to digest the reality of death. Lule says myths of the victim “attempt to reconcile people to the vagaries of human existence— to cruel fate, to bizarre happenstance, to death itself.” (Lule 43)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/nyregion/woman-is-held-in-death-of-man-pushed-onto-subway-tracks-in-queens.html?_r=0
III. I agree that this news story is a good example of the victim myth story. At first, I was unsure about if this really was a victim story because the beginning of the article really focuses on the woman who pushed Sen onto the railroad tracks. The main point of the article seems to be to inform about the crime that was committed and the actions of the defendant. Although that is the focus, there are definitely characteristics of the victim myth story. Details of Sen's life and personality are included, which serves to elevate the victim to hero status. The nature of the event is very fitting to the myth of the victim characteristics. Sen’s death was a random occurrence. This story was even more fitting to the myth of the victim characteristics because it was a hate crime. This makes it even easier to sympathize for Sen and to feel bad about what was done to him.
Delete