Journal #1

Overall the inauguration of President Obama was a huge deal. The inaugural events were very extravagant and I feel as though the inaugeration has not been this celebrated for as long as I have lived. The celebration has been going on for a week. I think that this is really amazing because it shows how involved the American people have become in the future of our country. I feel that it has taken many, many Americans a long time to realize that the Bush administration has been extremely detrimental to our country, and we are finally going to have change.
As I watched President Obama make his journey through Washington D.C., I admired his dignity and I felt very proud. I am not exactly sure what the feelings I felt meant, because I am aware that he is yet to do any great deed as President of the United States. However, I also know that I am proud to live in this country in a time that an African American man was elected to be President. Being a minority myself, I think I feel a connection, as though he represents all minorities and not just African Americans. I like how he made a comment during his Inaugural speech about how amazing it is that he is now the president when not so many years ago his ancestors were suffering from segregation.
One thing that I liked about the inauguration occurred during President Obama’s swearing in. It was when he made a mistake and kind of forgot his line, or flubbed his line. He went on to recover the line with a great big smile. I love this part because I feel as though it shows how human President Obama is. In a way it was like a reminder that he is one of us and he represents us. I think the American people feel a connection towards him. It is obvious by the number of people who attended the inauguration and also by the way that people show their support, that the American people have great love for President Obama.
The inauguration was definitely and event that had cultural markers. One thing that stood out was how the Tuskegee Airmen were involved in the inauguration. This affected the way that I saw the event because it reminded me of President Obama’s culture and the culture’s history. This brought attention to how historic this election has been. I thought it was beautiful that they paid homage to the Tuskegee Airmen in the inaugural events.
Another cultural symbol that stood out to me was a small but strong, and bold one. During the event there was a scene where the cameras panned the crowd and showed all of the people cheering and waving their arms. Amongst the crowd I noticed one African American person holding up his fist in a black power salute. It was such a beautiful thing. This one symbol goes back in history of course and also reminded me of the Olympians who lost their medals for holding up their fists proudly. All of these thoughts ran through my head and I smiled and nodded my head as a response. This also made think about the inauguration in different ways, and one those ways was to try to imagine how proud the African American community must feel.
The event is marked as historical by a great many visual symbols. The whole event is in our country’s capitol and everywhere we look we see historical landmarks. The use of the Lincoln monument and the Lincoln bible are also major elements. We see military men from all of the American military sects and we see all of the American flags from our country’s history. We also see many of the past American Presidents and their families. The image as a whole is definitely marked as a historic moment because you can literally see all of the people who are there to witness it and be a part of it. These are just some of the visual elements that make it look historic other then the actual, obvious act of the swearing in of our 44th president.
I feel that the televised image of the inauguration was seductive in Berger’s sense because like he says, the image worked on me. When I listened to Obama speak and when I watched him up there, I believed him, and I felt hope for a better America. I feel as though he is human and he is one of us. Since the event was very current, of course, it corresponded to our observations of people. I think that he was portrayed as an honorable man and a dignified one and that this image worked on me. I believe this to be a true representation of him.