stories
of the
midwest
go 2 paper # onego to blog post # onego to blog post # two
this is a website that i was taked with making for a class i'm taking . the class is called " stories of the midwest " . here you will find my mini-blog about stories of the midwest. i hope that you enjoy my stories.
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paper one
What is “The Midwest” ?
The Midwest is a landlocked region of the USA. The Midwest has a few major city, but is mostly
populated with rural areas/farms , college towns , and places best referred to as the middle of
nowhere. I moved to the Midwest from California, so I think a lot of my observations are
clouded by how foreign the Midwest feels to me. Here are some things that feel midwestern to
me:
“Dollar Store Vernacular” signs for fried food at the state fair
Talking about the weather in relation to crop cycles (“corn sweats”)
Basements
My neighbors American flag pool table and firepit
Stopping into a 24 hour diner at 5am after you’ve spent all night drinking
Route 66
Antique stores filled with stuff bought years and years ago at estate sales
Feeling like your town is too small
Playing under the highway
Going swimming in a watering hole
A homeless woman in nothing but a sheet wrapped around her asking you for a cigarette
Going to Mennonite bakeries
Sturdy meals like chili and casserole
Knowing someone who overdosed
Knowing someone with a horse
Having woods behind your house that make you feel like you live in a mansion and not in a
crumbling townhouse
Walmart parking lot with a truck with an American Legion sticker right next to a car with a
“Honk if you like femboys” sticker
Trusting nothing more than your comic book shop guy
Walking past a pickup bassball game
Driving on the highway and seeing cell towers flash in the distance.
Deer in your backyard
Snowy traintracks
Irreverence
blog post #1
Field of Dreams wants to expose the world to a sweet , idealized version of Midwestern excellence. It thrives from being nostalgic and hopeful. It's main character truely cares for his family and their field , and he loves it so much that he dedicates himself to creating something magical . When he brings baseball players to his home , he desires to be something nore than his mundane life as a small town farmer. While he loves his home, he also seems to have a place in the back of his mind that longs for something that feels lost . This paints the Midwest as an almost magical place to grow up , with many characters remarking that the Field of Dreams makes them "feel like a kid again." It is only as he grows up that the magic of freedom , the feeling that one could do anything, begins to be taken from them. Money and other weights of getting older often stiffle the character's goals. Their house is under attack , with anyone trying to sell the field serving as the closest thing the film has to an antagonist. Hell, Ray had a childhood dream of playing on the Dodgers that he "had" to grow out of. The PTA meeting is also an example of the character's goals to maintain freedom and youth, with Karin pushing heavily for letting school children read what they want to read.
Fargo sees the midwest as a suffocating breeding ground for the perverse tendancies of humans. It still paints money as an oppressive force, albeit not one that is ever conquored. The film almost implies that the Midwest creates people so helpless that they believe the only chance they have at really gaining money is kidnapping their loved one and taking the ransom. The setting of the film is bleak, white fields full of dead trees, bars with sickening lights and yellowed walls, a buisnessman's fancy house turning into the scene of a crime. Marge also, much like Karin, often feels like the most hardworking and cunning person in the film. This could imply that the midwest is Liberal enough to have women in "mens fields", but still to conservative for women to not have to work their ass off just to be heard. The sleazy, uneasy nature of this film reminds me of houses ive driven by in the midwest , undecorated mansions and falling apart cabins that always feel like theres more to the story.
blog post #2
The Ghetto Life documentary puts us into the perspective of a kid living on the Chicago South Side I love all the descriptions of the things the boy sees when he steps outside his house, as well as the other children identifying themselves as he talks to him . The children identify the apartment they came from , which gives it a really interesting sense of space. I thought it was sweet when the kids specified that they had their tape recorders on. Theyre prepared!! I really enjoyed hearing the kids day to day conversation, this whole thing felt less like a study of the area and more like a study of kids growing up in this time. I found it really charming and enlightening to hear what these kids were up to. My favorite part was when he started describing what his friend looked like and he disagreed, something about that whole scene felt really organic, and reminded me of having friends in my neighborhood when i was in elementary. I think the best thing about this radio broadcast documentary is its ability to make its subject matter relatable and familiar. Kids are a great lense into the interworkings of any given community that they interact with/ live inside of. I relate a lot to the idea that theor school was too roudy to learn in. I remember that being a huge "issue" when i was in my 3rd grade classroom. The idea that the students dont trust the teachers to respect them saddened me, but i remembered that in elementary school too. Being a kid is really difficult. The interview with the basketball player was so awesome. I love that having a tape recorder gaves the kids the ability to get an interview. I think that this documentary overall illuminates the freedom journalism gives you, as well as the ability for journalism to humanize a community and give a voice to children.