"it's what separates us from animals"

My second favorite cartoon of all time has got to be Recess, which I watched faithfully every Saturday morning as a kid (it's second only to Doug, which is in an entirely different category of it's own!). Every episode of Recess provided a glimpse into what culture is and what culture entails. First of all, the kids of the recess playground all shared a set of rules and principles, most of which were put in place by King Bob. According to our reading, that would be an example of hegemony, which Gramsci defines as "a situation where a 'historical bloc' of ruling-class factions exercises social authority and leadership over subordinate classes. This is achieved through a combination of force, and, more importantly, consent" (p. 66). Although the kids sometimes have their qualms with King Bob, they generally abide by his rules without much argument. In addition to the ruling of King Bob, there are also other forms of power within the recess playground, such as the sixth graders having power over the younger grades, and so forth.

What I'd like to focus on most, though, is the ideology that is present on the recess playground. I remembered the perfect episode to illustrate this, titled "Jinxed."



In the very beginning of this episode, we're introduced to the concept of the "kids' unwritten code of honor," which includes rules such as not being a "taker backer," not stepping on cracks, etc. One of these codes, which is what the entire episode is about, is that when you are jinxed you cannot talk until you are unjinxed (which, occurs when someone annouces that you've been jinxed). Anyway, long story short, Gus gets jinxed by the Ashleys and can't talk because of the unwritten code of honor, blah blah blah.

I found this episode to shed light on the concept of ideology, which can be somewhat confusing to understand (especially considering our reading gave about 20 different definitions of it!). According to Gramsci, "ideology is understood in terms of ideas, meanings and practices which, while they purport to be universal truths, are means of meaning that sustain powerful social groups...Ideologies provide people with rules of practical conduct and moral behavior..." (p. 66). Based on that explanation of ideology, I would argue that the "kids' unwritten code of honor" is certainly part of the ideology held by the recess kids. In fact, Gus holds this ideology as being so true that he nearly gets beat up by sixth graders, then caught by Ms. Finster, and the police even show up to take him away! Still, Gus never speaks until TJ unjinxes him.

One of the interesting aspects of ideology is that the group of people following it rarely ask the question of why those are the set of norms. Even in the wake of getting beat up, sent to detention, and taken away by the cops, Gus never questions the code of honor. And because of it, he becomes a hero of the playground in the end.

This episode of Recess and it's portrayal of the concept of ideology can be related to the ideologies we share in today's world. Everywhere we go there seems to be some sort of ideology, whether we realize it or not. It can be in the form of politics, religion, etc. etc. And all cultures have it one form or another. I don't think that there's necessarily anything inherently bad about ideologies as a whole, but I do think that it's very important to be aware that they are very much present within our society. I also believe that ideologies can be dangerous depending on who puts them in place and why. So being aware of the existence of ideologies can help us to make our own decisions about what we believe is right and true. Although, I probably would've done the same thing that Gus did because we all know how brutal kids at recess can be...!