Documentary Idea

For my THR 403 documentary i'd like to explore the possible indirect reasons behind the marriage rate in minorities being lower than that of other races. Based on my time on a college campus I've observed many people and decided that one possible reason could be the lack of public intimacy. In my four years at Stony Brook it was inevitable that I came across couples while traveling throughout the campus. What is interesting though is that I didn't necessarily know the couple it could just be assumed that they were because of shows of affection such as holding hands or giving a simple kiss. What i find disturbing is that in most of those recollections not many of any of those shows of affections were between minority students.

My goal is observe and interview minority students on their views of public intimacy and why they choose not to show it but at the same time admit that they are romantically involved with someone on campus. I will look to interview minority females in an depth manner because I find it unusual for females to deny public shows of affection. I believe that picking the minds of these individuals can be beneficial to myself and figuring out if there is indeed a connection between the latter and low marriage rates amongst minorities.

A public show of affection is a small scale representation of being romantically and happily involved with someone. It signals others that those two individual are content and not necessarily looking for any other suitors at the moment. My fear is that if something as simple as holding hands in public is being avoided then notion of wearing a wedding band or having a wedding may also be avoided. Overall i'd like to get a better understanding of why there a case of lacking public forms of affections amongst minority students and if it connected to things such as the regressing notion of simply dating or just a psychological burden that must be tackled.