A Bronx Tale and Hallway Traffic

social construction of reality- how people create the basic facts/realities of the world; society's unwritten rules

In A Bronx Tale, people in the neighborhood live by certain unwritten rules determined by people's social construction of reality. These rules are rules that everyone knows and lives by, and have been passed down and followed through generations. These rules include never going against Sonny and his crew and always go against cultures that aren't your own.

Rule #1: Never go against Sonny and his crew. Sonny rules the neighborhood and making him unhappy could bring harm to you and your family. In the beginning, Calogero is only a kid, and even though he knows that Sonny murdered someone, he doesn't turn him in. Also in various parts of the movie, when Calogero and his friends are fooling around and Sonny comes around, the kids know to listen to him and disappear from sight immediately. The rule is never spoken, but implied by every character in the movie- Don't mess with Sonny. The consequences of doing so are not quite known, however, they keep people from doing it.


Rule #2: Always go against cultures that aren't your own. The amount of racism in this movie is astonishing, yet is still a reality of the time period. Kids in this neighborhood are raised to hate African Americans for very little reason. While Calogero wasn't raised this way, his friends were. Every time his friends would see a black person, they would make degrading comments and threats or even take action to attack. Calogero always asks "Why? They ain't botherin' nobody," and his friend can never find a reason other than "because." This is because of the social construction of reality. "They aren't like us, so we must hate them." The same concept goes with the scene when the bikers come into Sonny's bar and he and the crew beat them up for very little reason other than the way they dressed. This way of thinking basically stems from the way you are raised and the social in and out groups that influence people.

One of my social constructions of reality isn't a very deep one, but it is one that I value greatly: Walking in the right side of the hallway.

There are no rules posted around school saying kids must walk on a certain side of the hallway. but we do anyway. This comes from the way our roads were built and driving rules. But at the same time, it gets me SO MAD when people walk at me on the wrong side of the hallway. It is obnoxious and rude, yet no one is actually doing anything wrong, society just thinks it. Especially now a days where everything is so systematic, the hallways have become roadways of their own and people who don't follow these unwritten rules will face the consequences of getting trampled to death. A few other laws of high school hallway etiquette include:

1) No sudden stops.
2) Slow lane stay right; Fast lane stay left
3) Don't form a slow walking chain across the hallway either slowing down traffic or completely stopping it.
4) Don't trip up other people with your rolling backpack.
5) Check your blind spot before changing lanes.
6) If you need to turn around do not turn right back around yourself to run into the person behind you. Make a smooth U-turn when oncoming traffic clears.

^^ Rules that are never said, but have been passed down to us by older generations of students and experienced drivers^^

A Bronx Tale- Groups in Sociology

The movie A Bronx Tale is a story about a boy named Calogero growing up in an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx. Throughout his childhood, he is influenced by many different groups that he is and isn't a part of. Sonny, Sonny's crew, Calogero's friends, his friends, his family, and his girlfriend are all groups that define him. Of these groups, Sonny has had the most influence.

Sonny acts like a father figure throughout the film. While at first he seems like a bad influence, he turns out making a huge positive impact on the main character's life. Sonny always tried to keep Calogero in school, and keep him out of trouble. Calogero is definitely a part of the small group that makes up Sonny and Calogero, because of their father-son-like relationship. I think Sonny plays an important role in keeping him of bad-influence groups like Calogero's friends and Sonny's crew. While these two other groups influence him, Calogero has been kept out of these groups, and as a result has kept out of violence, hatred, crime, and eventually death.

At the beginning of the movie, Calogero's master status is child. He screws around with his friends, and is still learning about the world and finding himself. He is easily influenced by the groups around him and is naturally a follower. Towards the end however, his master status becomes more of an adult. While he hasn't completely matured yet, Sonny has influenced him to be more responsible and think for himself. Instead of following along with things that he knows aren't right, he makes his own decisions and is more mature than he is at the beginning of the film.

I think most people's master statuses change in this way. Everyone starts as a child still learning about the world and their place in it. However, as we grow older, we turn into adults that make decisions based off our own beliefs and become less dependent on other.

In and Out of College Audtions

This week in sociology, we talked about our in groups, or groups that we where a part of. We talked about how they influence us and determine who we are as a person, tying into sociological mindfulness, being aware that these groups define us. At first, I didn't realize how many group I was a part of. Of course I have my school friends, my dance friends, and my family, but my in groups also include people I might not even know. For example, the entire senior class of high school is a group I'm  a part of, or auditioning students at colleges I visit. Upon further reflection, I realized that while, I might not know everyone in my in group, we still had a lot in common.

Last week I had a dance audition at OSU. Walking into the studio was the same as always, awkward and stressful. I decided to break the tension with a casual "so who's nervous?" and suddenly everyone started chatting. I learned where all the auditionees were coming from and what studios they went to. They were apart of many out groups, groups that I was not apart of. However, in the category of aspiring dance majors, we could still bond over the same things like the TV show Dance Moms, famous choreographers like TOKYO, and our favorite traveling dance competitions. It was especially funny when talking about other college auditions we were interested in: "Hey, didn't I see you at Butler last week?" or "Oh, I'll be at Indiana next week too. I'll see you there!"

These other dancers have influenced me in way I wouldn't have thought of. They make me more competitive and driven to get where I want, and they also push me to be a better dancer all around. During auditions, I can quickly learn from their strengths and their weaknesses and before and after the audition, I learn about dance through their own experiences, and get feedback on mine.