Build a better mouse trap

There's an old adage that goes, if you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door. Kelley and Jessica had no group, but they had an idea for a topic: Sex And The City. They used their blogs to sell their idea. And more than 20 of you beat a path to their door.

If you're still looking for a group, don't just wait for someone to find you, come up with an idea. Give them a reason to want to join you. Sex And The City is not the only socially relevant television series ever created. All In The Family, Roots, The Jeffersons, Star Trek, CSI, Seinfeld, and Will And Grace are just a few that come to mind. Or what about a magazine, like Ms., for example?

You're probably not familiar with any of the titles I mentioned, and that's perfectly normal, because you are not the target audience for any of them. Don't limit your choices to movies you've personally watched and enjoyed. In the grand scheme of media and society, that's not even a drop in the bucket, it's a drop in the ocean. Get online and do some research. What was the first magazine to cater to a black or hispanic audience? What books and movies fueled the feminist movement of the 1970s? Or think outside the box: I may not have mentioned recorded music in the instructions for this assignment, but if you want to do your presentation on the social effects of punk, grunge, hip hop, jazz, or Elvis Presley, that would be just fine.

And speaking of research, if you don't know why I gave you the suggestions I just gave you, get online and try to find out what was socially relevant about them. When I created this assignment I didn't expect you to base your presentation on your personal experience, I expected you to do some historical research. With very few exceptions (Sex And The City is probably one of them) you simply haven't been on the planet long enough to have experienced, as a critically thinking adult, much in the way of groundbreaking, socially important media.