Don't Watch It

Today we talked about the aspect of superheroes today and how they’ve brainwashed the innocent boys of today. Now at one point, I assume I was an innocent boy—I don’t remember. What I do remember is that I was never really into superheroes. I saw random episodes of some of the cartoons, but I never really caught on because typically they were always in the middle of storylines. (Spider-Man and X-Men were the most notorious about that. They said “This is Episode 11 of 14.”)

I grow up and, like it was mentioned today, superhero films blew up after the success of the first X-Men film. I saw most of them and liked a handful of them, but I never wanted to dress up as Batman. These stories and heroes affected millions of people, but I wasn’t one of them.

My media upbringing was on a lot of books, primarily. I read a lot of popular kids books of the time, but also a lot of older ones. Thanks to being able to read really fast and a great library, I was able to find a whole lot of different books. I then took that attention to film, still at a young age. Exposure to a lot of different ones made me realize what I really was looking for in characters.

So it wasn’t always the popular stuff of my age. It wasn’t because I was a snobby kid, but because I didn’t differentiate as much. I laughed more at Abbott and Costello than Adam Sandler so those were the films I devoured. My heroes were always the guys who were clever and funny instead of traditionally masculine. Groucho Marx, Basil of Baker Street (and human counterpart Sherlock Holmes), and The Great Brain. If I would have found Doctor Who when I was younger, I would be even more of a nerd.

I wasn’t trying to be a counter culture guy. I’m still not. I watch what I like to watch and I can always defend why I watch it. It’s not about what is popular. We rag on Disney Princess films and superhero films and reality shows and all of this. If you have problems with them DON’T WATCH THEM. Personally I think most of them are pretty good because I like the way they tell a story. I think the reality shows are terrible so I don’t watch those.

Always be actively thinking about what you are watching and then you aren’t “brainwashed.” Pop culture is a rich area of investigation, but why must we complain about stuff so heavily? There are so many fascinating trends and nuances but we only look at the major things because those are easier to calculate. Don’t be angry as something because it’s popular and it’s ruining the world. Make a difference by highlighting something you want to support. You want to change the world? There’s something to it.

--Austin Lugar

The Bachelor - Current thoughts...

For our project, my partner and I are going to dissect the reality TV show, "The Bachelor". Our goal at this point is to look at what it amplifies and reduces regarding interpersonal relationships, and really look at how a bad foundation for a relationship is created from the beginning.

Since I will be watching clips and episodes for the first time, I wanted to put down my thoughts on what I think the show amplifies and reduces right now before really getting into the heart of the matter through the research. My wife is a big fan of the show and I give her a hard time about it, but admittedly, I don't necessarily know everything about the show firsthand. What I think about the show right now is this - it seems to be a way to show how women are obsessed with finding a man who is rich, handsome, and "nice". I feel like another goal for the show is to make the women dress and look as provocative as possible. From what I've seen and heard from my wife is that there is almost always (if not always) at least one episode where all of the potential winners are in bathing suits. My assumption here is that this would be for the ratings and also for the bachelor to help his decision since physical beauty seems to be amplified.

I'm sure that I will be in for some surprises, but honestly I feel that most of the things I am thinking about the show right will prove to be true unfortunately.

It's Not Always Bad...

After our discussion in class today, I wanted to bring to light some comic books that don't reinforce the ugly stereotypes that many think exist in the medium. While there are plenty of superhero comic books (and when I saw plenty, I mean literally millions) that are cliche and promote violence and aggressive behavior, there are also a lot of comic books that have nothing to do with all of that and still tell an interesting story.

Some examples...

"Y: The Last Man" by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra - Perhaps my favorite series of all time. It has no superheroes at all. Basically, everything in the world with a Y chromosome gets wiped out - humans, plants, animals, etc. except for Yorick Brown and his pet monkey. From there, the plot twists and turns as Yorick navigates a world in which he is the last man. Highly recommended.

"Blankets" by Craig Thompson - This book hit me in a way that no other graphic novel has ever hit me. It's an autobiographical behemoth of a book about a young man growing up in Wisconsin and the interactions he had with his family, his church, and the first girl he ever slept with (not in the sexual sense of the word though). I've read it a good 3 or 4 times and some aspect always gets me.

"Fables" by Bill Willingham and various artists - The idea is this: all of the fairy tale characters move to New York. It is completely and totally awesome. All of your favorite characters are there, like Snow White (the deputy mayor of Fabletown), Cinderella (an awesome spy for the Fabletown army), the big bad wolf (who is called Bigby and is the town sheriff), and the frog prince (who starts out as a janitor at the beginning of the series, and grows into something incredible as it progresses). I have gotten tons of people hooked on "Fables". It's addicting and an all around great read.

There are tons of other great examples, but I'll keep it at that. Also, come by Alter Ego Comics on McGalliard tomorrow if any of these titles interest you - I'll be working and I can give more suggestions and hook you up.

Go Go Power Rangers!!!!

In class today, we discussed the different ways superheroes can be damaging to young boys. The hyper masculinity teaches boys that being tough is the only way to get what you want in life (which may be why nice guys finish last, but that's a different story). But the excessive violence shown in superhero movies, comic books, cartoon, etc. can be a very serious problem.

Now, like many boys my age, I was super big into Power Rangers. In fact, for a while, I actually wanted to be a Power Ranger. So to "prepare" myself to become one, I would run around my house imitating the fighting moves I had seen in the television show. It seemed like harmless fun at the time and everyone got a big kick out of it (no pun intended).

In kindergarten, there was a boy who used to pick on me because I was way shorter than the rest of my classmates. He used to push my down at recess, call me names, and all the other things a bully does. One day, I decided I had had enough of it. So when he pushed me down like he did everyday, I got up and grabbed his arm. I tried to flip him over like I had seen the Green Ranger do many times. But, because I was a tiny kindergartner, it did not work the way I planned. Instead, I just kinda twisted his arm. Disappointed that my "move" didn't work, I decided to karate chop him in the neck. Of course, he started to cry and I got sent to the principals office.

While talking with the principal, he asked me where I had picked up what I did to that boy. I told him I saw it on the Power Rangers. Needless to say, my mother was called and I didn't get to watch the show for a month.

It's hard to say whether or not I would have responded to his bullying the same way had I not watched the show, but you can't sit there and tell me that Tommy didn't teach me a thing or two about fighting.

Women in Comics

The role of women in comic books, specifically as superheroes, was briefly touched upon at the end of class today. It is definitely an issue that has been talked about, but mostly criticized over the years. It is not without controversy, nor should it be, since for the most part, the industry has done a bad job at making the roles for female characters be more than just cheesecake.

This was especially prevalent in the 90s, when art reigned supreme. The writing (with a few notable exceptions) took a backseat to the art. People bought comics for the art, not the words. If it had a cool looking cover, and pencils by McFarlane, you bought it. Because of this, we got all of the art that is used in research and examples even today showing that the women in comic books are basically just a collection of large and small body parts with little else to offer.

In recent years, Marvel in particular has tried to remedy this fact through a couple ways - one was highlighting the "Women of Marvel" in some of their comics, which was basically a slight spotlight on the women writers and artists at the company. In my opinion, it did very little to help anything. It looked more like a way for them to not feel guilty. Their other effort was a mini-series called "Girl Comics" where each issue was an anthology of smaller stories all written and drawn by women, some of them about the female characters of the Marvel Universe. You would think that this would be a good thing, and for the most part it was, until you see some pin-ups of Marvel super heroines that are barely clothed. It didn't help their cause at all.

While there are some good examples of strong female characters in comics, there are many more bad ones unfortunately. It is one aspect of the industry that I have no pride in.

Parents vs Prinesses/Superheroes

The princess culture and the superhero culture both have the potential of turning little kids in to spoiled narcissist and/or aggressive douche bags. The princess culture enables little girls to be self-involved and grow up to be materialistic. These girls, at an early age, develop a sense of entitlement and when something doesn't go the way they want, unforgiving complaining can be expected. Likewise for little boys, a superhero culture can teach to fight first and ask questions later. If a boy doesn't feel like reading the comic books, then he'll just look at the art work of heroes fighting. I'm not saying every little boy and girl will turn out this way, but for those that do, it seems that it could have been prevented very simply, with parenting. The media is everywhere, that much is a given. Fighting the media is no easy task, but parents don't need to isolate their children from tv and the internet to keep their kids normal. Just making sure their kids have both feet on the ground is good enough. I firmly believe that as long as parents don't over indulge their princess or hero, than this culture of overspending and fighting could be better handled. It's ok to say 'no' to your little girl and to put your little guy in the corner. It won't make these people bad parents, just the opposite; they'll be thanked by society later on in life. Let the kids have fun and be a princess for a day or save the world from an evil robot. I just hope it doesn't go too far.

Pink is for Girls and Red is for Boys

I feel as though the articles about girls being sucked into the princess culture and boys being sucked into the super hero culture were a little stereotypical, then again so is the way these toys and such are sold to kids.

Confession: Growing up the closest thing I had to a super hero action figure was the Pink Power Ranger and she lived in my dollhouse, yes... I said dollhouse. I was that kid growing up, the one that hosted tea parties for the girls and talked all of my guy friends into being okay with what I look back on as prancing around. They all knew when to come out from behind pretending to be Superman and just have fun.

There is this stereotypical view of little kids when it comes to what they like to play with but I think that is something that is pushed by the adult culture. When I look back at my childhood and look at the little kids around me I see boys playing with princess things because they belong to their sisters and girls doing the same. When you're under the age of say, 8, you don't really care if it's pink or red.

I think that doing research and reading up on what affects toys and images for the opposite gender have on kids would be really interesting.

The Pixar Touch

In class this week we talked about two trends in Disney animation: Walt’s Princesses and Team Disney. Now I believe we are in a new era, one that isn’t as popular as those two but a trend just the same.

Team Disney fell apart after a lot of internal struggles. Jeffrey Katzenberg was let go and he went on to form Dreamworks as a vengeful attack on Disney. Years later Michael Eisner and Roy Disney left the company as well. The new CEO, Bob Iger, is a strong businessman but not a creative innovator.

Then something bizarre happened. During this time Pixar was booming. After a decade of designing technology, they were finally able to make feature films. Toy Story was a cultural phenomon. Years later Toy Story 2 was another box office and critical success. However through a contractual loophole, that film was not seen as part of the deal between Disney and Pixar. This led to a long argument which led Pixar to break off from Disney. Disney still had the creative properities of Pixar and started to make Toy Story 3 without Pixar. (The story involved Buzz malfunctioning and being sent back to the factory in Japan with Woody and the gang traveling across the world to save him.)

Months later, a deal was finally created. Pixar returned, that version of Toy Story 3 was scrapped, and the creative genius behind Pixar is now the chief creative officer of Disney animation. That man is named John Lasseter.

As great as some of the films of Team Disney were, they were led by producers instead of writers or directors. Walt Disney was a very creative person with rich ideas and vision. John Lassater is closer to Walt more than Eisner, Katzenberg and yes even more than Roy Disney.

So I’m going to call this new era “The Pixar Touch.” This is a term that has been used plenty of times but it’s becoming relevant now to Disney animation. Just like the time before Team Disney, the company’s animation was losing the world’s attention. They were making films like The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron and the underrated masterpiece The Great Mouse Detective. Disney in the 2000s was making films like Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet.

With films like The Princess and the Frog and Tangled, Lassater is evoking the spirit of Walt’s films but bringing a more advanced level of storytelling. All of the character are more three-dimensional with their motivations and goals. Despite being princesses, the women are stronger role models and not just vague archetypes.

Pixar will still outshine Disney animation because they are making groundbreaking films that are consistently masterful. Pixar is making great films while Lassater is taking that mentality to make great Disney films. He’s satisfying a niche and bringing a level of care and creativity.

Disney has said they are going to take a break on princess films until they find a new take on the material. Yet next summer Pixar will be releasing its very first princess film (and their first film with a female lead). There is early and exciting information about it here.

--Austin Lugar

Twitter, It's Not That Bad.

When we first began twitter project I was skeptical, I hadn’t had a twitter before the project and being so involved with Facebook I couldn’t see myself adding another social networking site to the list. I never updated my status too much while I was on Facebook so I thought the idea of having a network just for updating your status was a bit ridiculous. Once we started our project and I had to break down and create my very own twitter I was annoyed, I didn’t really understand how it worked and I didn’t really want to either but I sat down with a friend and got my first twitter lesson. He taught me about all of the different aspects of twitter and how people use twitter for very different things, some for more personal issues and others to get their cause out to the world. I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of twitter so much that I created a personal twitter of my own, one apart from the twitter we used in class. I wanted to keep them separate because I was just starting both twitters out and didn’t want to have my personal account bombarded with tweets of the 90’s. After I had learned all there was to know about twitter I started exploring the site on my own, following my friends, family, celebrities and a fair amount of organizations I was interested in. Twitter wasn’t what I had anticipated at all. It wasn’t just a forum for people to update their status it was a tool, a tool used by many companies to advertise themselves. I now get on my twitter religiously and follow a number of very interesting people and organizations. Starting out I would have never thought I would actually like twitter but now I am eating my own words.

Genie in a Bottle: It's About Respect

In the late 1990s, a phenomenon took over American media: the virgin. I'm not saying that this is when it started, but the subject of virginity was everywhere. American Pie, Dawson's Creek, and countless other tv shows and movies were all asking one question: "to do it, or not to do it?"

Around the same time the nation became obsessed with virginity in movies and television, the whole "pop princess" thing happened. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were singing songs filled with sexual innuendo, prancing around on stage wearing basically nothing, and admitting they were virgins in interviews.

The point is, the video clip we watched in class today had a scene where a 14 year old girl said "Genie in a Bottle" was about respect. Our class erupted in laughter as we thought how could someone be stupid enough to believe that. Well, I'm not saying I do, but a critical look at the songs lyrics sort of back up that claim.

The song seems to be a product of the "to do it, or not to do it" question of the time. In the little prechorus part, Aguilera states that her body's saying "let's go," meaning the hormones pulsing through her body are thinking having sex would be a great idea. But...she goes on to say that her "heart is saying no", meaning even though she really wants to, she understands it's not the right thing to do.

In the first verse, she talks about guys blowing kisses her way and trying to get with her. They can blow all the kisses in the world, but "that don't me I'm gonna give it away." Yet another example of Christina's decision to remain a virgin. Later in the song, after a night of dancing comes to an end she states "we're good to go." She takes a guy home, and although her "hormones are racing at the speed of light, that don't mean its gonna be tonight."

So there's three example from the song where Christina admits she's not necessarily ready to lose the big v-card just yet. Although this song is by no means an anti-sex song, it does give a positive message to people who are considering having sex: Wait for the right person. Wait for someone "to make a big impression" and "like what (they) do."

The problem with this song is people get caught up on two or three very suggestive lyrics in the song ("rub me the right way" "come come come" and "set me free baby and I'll be with you") and forget to actually listen to the rest of the lyrics. Sure, there are very conflicting messages in the song, but one of those messages is actually a decent message to the mass of virgins being pressured to have sex in the late 1990s.

One last thing: I hope this song gets stuck in your head all day like it's stuck in mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu7Ixskp0dY

The Superhero Vs The Princess

When you look at the super hero culture most if not all of the superhero’s have an alter ego, whether its Bruce Wayne for Batman or Clark Kent for Superman. The super hero alter ego gives human qualities to an otherwise superhuman character. In my opinion this helps the reader or viewer to connect better with the character. When I was younger I was very much so apart of the “princess culture” and to this day I still enjoy the entire princess world but at the same time I enjoyed the aspect of the superhero world. In all honesty if I hadn’t been so influenced by my peers I think I would have resonated more with the superhero culture because the characters were so well developed. Where as in the princess world most of the princess characters could be interchangeable with each other. Do I think that in some ways the superhero culture could harm the boys who watch them yes, but I believe that they do more good. The superhero characters are always flawed in some way, like every human is in one way or another and I think it teaches children a lot about difference and how differences in others shouldn’t matter. The superhero culture to me is much more positive than that of the princess culture because it shows a much more real world take on life, aside from the superhuman powers. If you stripped the comic books or movies from all of the superhuman characteristics the stories would be about someone who struggled with their differences and prevailed in the end. The princess stories are much more superficial and the characters in the stories are underdeveloped and at times shallow. Although I enjoy the princess world I do believe that the superhero world is much more beneficial when it comes to teaching children about the real world.

Twitter Project: What I feel Worked, What Didn’t, and All the Rest!

Twitter Project: What I feel Worked, What Didn’t, and All the Rest!

So the Twitter Project is over. We can all get back to our ponies and stickers and myspace.com. But on a serious note, we had a good effort for the most part. But with all good efforts, there is room for improvement.

What Worked: Well, the hashtag, in my opinion, was an amazing hashtag for us to use.#90sKid was a hit for our class and for our followers. People would tweet back at me and say how they loved a song or show I tweeted about. Spice Girls, Doug, Power Rangers, and so much more filled our heads again, and it was awesome. Memories of the 90s filled the twitverse like mad. It also allowed us to think about different significant historical events that may have happened back in the 90s. And it was just a fun project overall.

What Didn’t: We weren’t collaborating a lot on what issues we had with the project. Like when we should be tweeting, should we do it all at once or over a month’s time. I feel like if we all tweeted 1-2 times a day till the last 5 days then hit it hard, tweeting like 25 times a day to really try to get the topic trending. Also, I believe someone mentioned that locked/private accounts don’t contribute to trending tweets. If that is really the case, a whole class should have an open account. It could even be a separate account for this class.

All the Rest: In the future, I hope classes can take this project into consideration and work to a trending topic as well. Also, getting the hastag to catch on with other accounts than the class and ball state will get the buzz out there. Looking for other accounts of people similar to you will work better for future classes. Twitter has a “similar to you” column so you can find people to follow you and will hopefully follow you back.

Hopefully future endeavors to get a trending topic for future classes goes a lot better than us, and that they actually achieve the goal.

Princess Culture

In class we have been discussing the culture of princesses and whether or not we feel like it exists. We have had several great conversations and debates about our opinions, but I firmly believe this culture exists. As a young girl, I watched Disney movies a lot, but the most princess-based toy or clothing item that I had was the game Pretty Pretty Princess. Even though I had this game, I played it most often with my father, which I find interesting to think about. I loved making him dress up with the tiara on his head because I thought it was hilarious. Other than that, I played mostly with my neighbor, Tim, who always dreamt of being in the Army. His love for the Army was always apparent in our games because we would play on his playground with helmets and guns. Interestingly enough, he recently graduated from West Point Academy.


I do know a person in my life that had always loved the princess lifestyle and grew up watching the movies and owning princess toys. She now takes out school loans only to go shopping for herself instead of using them academically, she is obsessed with reality TV about weddings, relationships and money, she considers herself the boss of everyone in her life, but she also tends to do whatever she wants even if it creates a double standard for those who she bosses around. The lifestyle choices she makes has even given her the nickname of “Princess” long before our culture talks in class. It is interesting to see how the two worlds collide. I now see the reasoning behind her actions.

Can someone be a princess and a superhero?

So in class we are just finishing up talking about the princess culture and the superhero culture. Both cultures seem to be prevalent in our society today. The thing I wonder is if these cultures ever overlap. Can a person be a princess and a superhero? I believe finding an actual person who is both is rather hard. As far as mediated texts, there are a few characters that come to mind.

First there is Buffy. I have previously written about Buffy before but she seems to be the prime character that shows both cultures. She is Very masculine. She gives off the strong, powerful, fight to save people attitude. She acts like a lot of male characters do because she is closed off when emotions are involved. She also tends to slack when it comes to things like working and school. In the end though, she knows she is responsible for slaying demos, vampires, and such. She is also a princess. Buffy loves to buy buy buy. She is very feminine. She constantly talks about going to the mall, getting a new outfit, getting a new dress, and often obsessed with how she looks. She also is the one who is in control. She has to be the one who is in charge and knows what is right. She is the Princess-Super Heroine.

Next is Batman. I am talking about my opinion of how I have seen batman portrayed in the movies. Bruce Wayne is a suave, good looking, lovely kind of man. He has a nice mansion and nice things. You know he has a buy buy buy attitude. He also tends to be the one in control, which comes from the money he has. Batman, his alter ego, is very masculine, strong, and always ready to save the day. He fights evil and is very righteous. He is a “Prince”ss Super Hero.

What I have notices about these two characters is that they have two lives pretty much. Buffy is a slayer but is also a teenager/college-aged adult. Bruce Wayne is a rich man and is also a vigilante. Having two lives in mediated texts tends to portray both lifestyles. I can see how both these characters can be a princess and a super hero. Tell me what you think.

Less Analysis, More Action

I feel like in a class like ours, where we are supposed to analyze content, we have made ourselves aware of many social issues raised in the media. But I think we are reacting by what we know we are supposed to say. It is easy to point out how the princesses set really high expectations of how girls should look or act. But I guarantee that we are not the only age group noticing these problems. So why aren’t things getting changing? Because these stereotypes and expectations work. We aren’t comfortable yet breaking the status quo.

I asked a couple women that if they were to be animators for the next Disney Princess-type movie, what would the princess look like. One mentioned that there needs to be a Hispanic princess, because there isn’t one yet. The other was much more traditional approach (not that different from Belle in my opinion). But neither said that the princess should have a bit bigger or body type. I asked if there should be a “chubby princess”. They said no, it might send the wrong message to girls. I found it very interesting that they would say this when just a couple days ago they were talking about the unrealistic beauty expectations TV shows amplify.

So fellow classmates I challenge you to take the lessons we learn from this class, and apply them. Don’t be afraid to make an ugly princess (that isn’t the point of the story). As the next generation, we have to stop analyzing, and start doing. But it’s a thin line to walk. I have noticed the emergence of a new character type. The “anti-stereotype-stereotype”. I think we have such motivation to change things that we go to the extreme and put them at the opposite end of the spectrum immediately. But the flaw is that we acknowledge that they break the stereotype through dialogue or plot. I think this only reinforces those stereotypes. So be careful.

Superheroes

Today’s reading discusses the effects of superheroes on little boys. In the article it discusses how Hollywood’s images of masculinity can influence the young boys that are often watching these superhero movies. The article says that that today’s blockbusters are more focused on the superheroes blowing things up, being sarcastic, and basically doing whatever the superhero wants because what else would anyone do about it? Superhero movies today don’t focus on the values of the superhero and the importance of his “job” once he takes his costume off and isn’t a superhero anymore. I think that certain superhero movies have a negative effect on children because superheroes that are seen in movies nowadays are seen hanging out with skanky dressed girls, are seen drinking, and are at some times mean to other around them. Ironman is one that especially sticks out to me. I saw this movie and I thought that parts of it weren’t appropriate for younger children. From what I remember I think Ironman is a slob that messes around with girls and is rude to people and sells giant guns and thinks he is the shit- which at times he is the shit but it might be inappropriate for younger kids. The article also discusses that superheroes are seen as either the “player” or the “slacker”. I think that Ironman falls into both of these categories. These images are bad for young boys and I think they can affect them in negative ways in the future. From reading the article, it looks like young boys that are less influenced by these superhero movies are better adjusted when they get older and also act less tough and macho. Overall I think that superhero movies to some extent are ok for children but not if they are at too young of an age. I think that Ironman is definitely not for young children.

Spider-Man = Aggresive Boys?

After reading today's article, I think I have determined a major thing (for myself at least) that comes into play when analyzing certain areas of pop culture. It can be summed up in two words.

Ready?

It depends.

The author of today's article talks about how some researchers claim that the superheroes of today promote fighting and aggressive behavior. As a comic book reader of close to 20 years, a host of a comic book centered podcast, and an employee of a local comic book shop for 3 years I have to say...it depends.

It depends on what you're talking about specifically. There are so many different eras and writers and types of books out there. The researchers in the article single out Iron Man and Spider-Man as two of the culprits, and more specifically, the movie iterations of these characters. This was a little mind-boggling to me, since both the Iron Man and Spider-Man films have very strong character arcs in the characters showing that ultimately they changed into better people and only resort to violence when they absolutely have to. Spider-Man in particular always tries to find a better way first. One researcher claims that Iron Man, when out of costume, "exploits women, flaunts bling, and conveys their manhood with high-powered guns".

This in particular I had an issue with. It sounds like this researcher didn't finish the movie and instead watched the first 20 minutes. Those of you who have seen the entire movie know that Tony Stark changes completely by the movie's end, and this is a vital part of his story.

This is getting pretty geeky on my part, so I'll stop there. I'm sure there will be much more discussion for me to geek out over in class today.

Subliminal Disney

After last class, I began thinking again about the subliminal messages that people always bring up (much like I did) when talking about Disney – especially 90s era Disney. They already come under fire for the things that they play up, especially in the princess movies, i.e. having sexuality play a key and major role in finding a man. Also the "cheesecake" poses and posture. They are, in those cases, clearly showing and teaching something. In other cases, there may be times when they're not clearly doing so.

For those who have never heard of or seen these messages, I wanted to post some here on the blog. This definitely could work in support of the argument that shows Disney’s emphasis and focus on sexual situations, but if nothing else, it’s just pretty interesting and also just kind of gross. I didn't think that any of these would be too bad to post on the blog, but be warned - some of them are pretty weird and unsettling if you haven't seen them.

First up! “The Little Mermaid”.

Barring the imagery and plot points that we discussed in class, “The Little Mermaid” seems to have the most sexual of the subliminal messages. Here’s the priest marrying Ariel and Eric at the end of the movie. Notice anything different about the priest?

So. Yeah. There's that.

Now Disney has pointed out that this is actually the priest’s stubby knees under his robes, and in a later scene you can see that this is true. But as you can also see in the picture on the right, Disney changed it for later releases. While that not necessarily be an admission of guilt, it is interesting.

On early copies of “The Little Mermaid” VHS box, there is a pretty definite phallic symbol in the castle behind the characters. Again, Disney said this was an accident and was a result of a “rushed art job”, but they also changed it for later releases. This is one of the most debated subliminal messages out there, probably because when you see the image...it's kind of hard to not see anything else.

Next – “The Lion King”

This was one we discussed in class. Notice what the dust spells as it rises into the air?

Disney says that this is actually supposed to read “SFX” for “sound effects”, but most people are skeptical of this and think that it definitely spells out "sex". Apparently it all came to light when a mother said her young son pointed it out to her when he was watching it.

Last – “The Rescuers”

As Bernard and Bianca are racing across the screen, if you pause the tape (not DVD. Weird, huh?) you can clearly see a painting of a topless woman in the background. Disney doesn’t fight this one – they did a recall of it back in the day and claim that it wasn’t the animators, but some post-production tampering. This one is also pretty hard to defend for Disney. Also, "The Rescuers Down Under" was way better anyway.

Most people are skeptical about these “subliminal messages” and attribute it to people finding what they’re looking for. Whether it was intentional on Disney’s part or not, it is definitely worth thinking about when considering the other sexual things they play up in their films. Could this be something that they added in there thinking no one would notice? Or was it just some animators having fun?

Growing up Disney

Like most people in class, I grew up watching Disney movies. I would beg my mom to take my brother and me to see movies like Lion King, Mulan, and Hercules. My brother and I would sit quietly during the movie with a bucket full of popcorn and watch as Mulan argues with Mushu. Once the movie ended, we would walk out singing and laughing while still trying to finish the popcorn. It's movies and moments like those that come to mind when I think of Disney, and I'm not the only one. Disney has created a dynasty of cartoon legends that still have an impact on kids and on people like me. Disney has cornered the market in entertaining thousands of children worldwide, but they are also successful in cornering a different kind of market. I like to think of it as the Nostalgic Corner. The Nostalgic Corner is for "old" people like my brother and me who loved the Disney movies so much, we will not hesitate to take our baby sister and younger cousins to see a Disney movie. And if the Nostalgic Corner is full of people like me, Disney can expect to stay at the top. Even with older people reminiscing about their childhood, Team Disney still has little kids across the country who will want to drag parents to movie theaters and Disney World. They continue to have success in capturing the next generation of Disney-lovers, but I'm not complaining. As they say, hakuna matata and always let your conscience be your guide.

75 tweets later....

After completing the tweets required for class last Friday, I began to read some of the tweets I posted and I came to one tragic conclusion, my three-year old sister will never know about the Power Rangers. She will not experience the awesomeness of the original Looney Toons. She will not understand cool catchphrases such as, "the bomb." The world that we grew up has changed and I can't help but feel too old. Every Saturday morning, Annette, my baby sister, asks for her cartoons. Some are entertaining but most are clearly made for toddlers like Annette. Between the Twitter assignment and Annette's cartoons, I realized how different her childhood will be from mine or anyone else who grew up in the 90s. Today's world is much more baby sensitive, for example, did you know there is a whole tv channel devoted for children like Annette and any other kids under 5? These channels teach toddlers how to count their fingers and share their toys. Sesame Street was the only thing I ever watched that showed me how to count but I was never a big fan of PBS, unless the Magic School Bus was on of course. Instead, I preferred to watch cartoons like Ren and Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life, both of which were iffy for kids to watch. Annette and others her age will undoubtedly benefit from modern technology. Maybe when she reaches to be our age, she will reminisce about the cartoons she watched and have the same feelings we have when an episode of Rugrats is on tv.

Facebook Diaries

Reality TV meets social media.I have been anticipating these two worlds colliding for quite some time. You may choose to argue that “Facebook Diaries” is not reality television but a documentary. How do you know? The show was created by MTV to highlight inspirational stories about how facebook changed someone’s life. The show aired for the first time last night at 11 p.m. Although these are factual, truth based stories we have learned from the article on reality TV that people will go to great lengths to be on television. We have also learned how television has a tendency to sensational stories or situations. Therefore, while I do not the show is scripted I have a notion the producers and directors encourage the participants to amplify certain aspects of their stories and emotions.
Additionally, I must admit I am somewhat shocked the show highlights inspirational stories about facebook’s impact. I feel like most of what we see from MTV and other television mediums are simply dramatic and possibly over-the-top to the point of absurdity. In the reality television article we also learned how we may watch the shows to feel better about ourselves and judge others. This show provides a new perspective. I tend to think of facebook as a cynic. I have heard more stories of drama and the reason for issue than things about saving peoples lives and connecting soldiers with their family, as shown on the first episode. Is this a new curve for reality television and social media or have I spoken too soon? I hope within the next few months “Facebook Diaries” doesn’t evolve into “Facebook Disasters” to exploit people who have gotten into bad situations due to facebook. In the meantime, how does this impact your perception of social media and reality television.

War, War, War...

Wars have been around since before people started recording them. They were fought over land, love, ideas, and even disrespect. But they were never the focus of entertainment. Until now.
Now there are games that boast their realistic graphics and plots as selling points, and they sell big. They provide the players with the opportunity to get the experience of war, without actually being involved with it. The idea that some of the games the military actually uses to train, like Apache, Desert Tank, and Joint Force Employment, which have passed down through their ranks, and ended up with the consumers. J.C. Hertz calls it the “military-entertainment complex” and I completely agree.
This occurrence is really unfortunate, because, like the article by Stahl explains, it also to helps create a since of knowledge and understanding among the civilians, when, in reality, they don’t really know anything about what’s going on. They also can end up becoming immune to all of the trials and horribleness that is war.
Some of my family members were in the army during Desert Storm, and because I was too young, and they refuse to broach the subject, I can’t really remember much about them and their experiences during that time. All I know is that, when I even brought up the idea of joining any branch in order to pay for college, they pounced in me like I was insane, and told me I’d better get good grades and find scholarships to pay for college instead. From their reactions, I can only assume that war isn’t the same as the videogames that have attacked the markets through the years. It’s much worse.

Stereotypes of reality show characters

Several adjectives can describe the majority of male characters on reality television shows. Vulgar, obnoxious, drunk, clowning, violent, whoring, and inconsiderate are several, but there is a new breed of reality television that is beginning to highlight males in a much different manner. Shows like Pawn Stars, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, and American Pickers are beginning to pop up on several networks and they attempt to show their male characters as intelligent, good-guy businessmen with positive intent.

Pawn Stars and American Pickers both air on the History channel, and though still considered “reality television,” they can hardly be uttered in the same sentence as Jersey Shore or The Real World. Pawn Stars is a show about a family owned pawn shop that does things the “right way” unlike most crooked pawn shops you’ll find on average street corners. Rick and his father own the shop, while Rick’s son Cory helps to manage it. They are not typical male reality show characters in that they showcase their extent of knowledge about the vast array of historical pieces that come into their shop and run a legitimate and successful business. American Pickers is about a couple high school buddies who go around the US looking for forgotten antiques stored away in rotting barns and storage sheds. They attempt to buy these items from the owners so they can sell them in their own shop. Again, they run a legitimate business and are very educated/knowledgeable. The characters in these shows seem to have something to offer the world while characters of some of the more popular reality shows come off as mostly mindless.

Rob Dyrdek, while vastly different from the characters in the previously mentioned shows, is another reality television show personality who doesn’t tend to follow along with all the stereotypical adjectives of most reality television males. He definitely has the carefree, “I want to have fun all the time” attitude, but he is also a successful businessman who goes out of his way to give back to the community. Most episodes of his show attempt to show this side of him, though not always. However, even if the businessman trait isn’t always highlighted, the show definitely rejects the typical stereotypes like the “obnoxious, drunk man whore.”

Reality television is seemingly everywhere now, and it is important to remember that it’s simply an umbrella term. Within the genre there are an endless amount of sub-categories that could be specifically identified. For that reason, the typical stereotypes of male, as well as female, reality television personalities need to be wiped clean because as shown by my examples above, they definitely do not apply to all.

Blogging

As I read Kristen's post about blogging (below), I could not agree more. Sure, it could be easy to discredit bloggers because they can basically type whatever they want. It goes along with the classic teacher saying of: "Wikipedia isn't a reliable source, because anyone can edit it." AKA, "It's too easy and I want to make you work ridiculously hard for this mediocre assignment." But that's beside the point. The point is, blogs CAN have reliable information. The thing that people don't realize, is this information comes in the form of opinion. Sure, I could easily be an ignorant biased republican, go to a democratic blog, and disregard anything the blog says immediately. (or vice versa, not trying to piss any of you politcal folk off.) Or, I could open my mind up a teeny tiny bit, read the blog, understand that everything is coming from another consumer's side of the story, and take it in for all that it is worth. Blogs open us up to new ideas. For instance, earlier this semester I posted a blog about "radio-rap" vs. "hip-hop." I posted a video to a relatively unknown artist that I feel is more empowering with his music than many artists today. Now, you may read my blog post, listen to the song, completely disagree, and go back to listening to your Lil' Wayne album. That is perfectly acceptable to me. As long as you give it a shot, and decide for yourself that you don't like it, there isn't much I can do about it. Or, maybe you listen to it, think to yourself, "damn, this is some dope shit," and explore the artist and artists related to him. Either way, would you have ever heard that artist if it wasn't for my blog post? Probably not. He's not mainstream enough for the radio, and he isn't really publicized. So, it all comes down to what we can teach each other through blogging. Whether it be political viewpoints, different unexplored styles of music, or our opinions on blogging itself, blogging is something we should use in our everyday lives, to at least branch off from rigid, mainstream news. Church.

Product Placement, Subliminal Advertising, and Subliminal Messages

Those tricky advertisers are always at it. Virtually every show we watch on television and every movie we see has some type of product placement, subliminal advertising, subliminal messaging, or combination of the three. Though they all sound somewhat similar, these three advertising strategies are all a little different.

Product placement: When brands pay to have their products or brands placed in scenes for the simple idea of exposure. The idea is that seeing a certain brand name will help achieve a sense of familiarity. Imagine soda was a new concept and no brand names existed. If you were to go to the movies and see characters always drinking a new type of drink called Coca Cola, what do you think you would do the next time you were in the drink section of the grocery? I would probably give it a try because I gained a sense of familiarity.

Subliminal advertising: This is when a product or label is somehow in a scene, but not necessarily a focal point or overly obvious. Seeing a Coke logo in a background of a scene is much more subliminal than seeing a character order one at a restaurant. The idea, though, is still to achieve familiarity even though it’s done in just a slightly different way. The hope is to trigger a response that encourages one to buy.

Subliminal messaging: This usually doesn’t send off an advertisement for a product, but rather a general idea or message. Many of today’s pop music videos have the subliminal message that “sexy” is important while brains take a back seat.

The point is, we are constantly targeted by advertisers who have the goal of making us buy into a certain brand, product, idea, message, etc. even if we are not consciously aware of what’s happening.

My New Haircut = Jersey Shore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JMOh-cul6M

Just so everyone knows, the language in this video is very vulgar.

But while we’re on the topic of Jersey Shore…

During our conversation about the show, we mentioned some things that help fuel the stereotypes of the “guidos” we see on Jersey Shore. One of those that we mentioned, but never showed in class is the above link, “My New Haircut.” I’ll be honest, I don’t know where this video originated from or when it was made, but I know it was pre-Jersey Shore. It is amazing how closely related the two really are despite not being affiliated with each other in any way except the character that they embody. When I think of the people, specifically guys, on Jersey Shore, a few adjectives come to mind: Cocky, hot-headed, jock, man-whore, drunk, etc. When I watch the “My New Haircut” video, that character displays every one of those adjectives.

I remember the first time I ever saw an episode of Jersey Shore and I texted the friend that originally showed the “My New Haircut” video asking him if this was an extension of the video, a complete joke, etc. And considering the wide popularity the video had on YouTube alone, one has to wonder the connection, if at all. Did MTV see the success that is “My New Haircut” and see an opportunity to capitalize on a pop culture mockery? I do not think that’s out of the question, but nonetheless, television stations and other outlets do know seem to be able to target what our culture finds “entertaining” and that’s why we continue to see the same characters over and over again in so many different shows.

Is Jersey Shore really getting old?

(Oops, forgot to tag it. Sorry for the repeat!) http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/gym-tan-yawning-why-were-so-over-jersey-shore--2650 This is a pretty interesting article that fits right in with our class conversation from last week. We were arguing back and forth about what reality television really is. Is it really that entertaining? Is it even real enough to be called “reality”? Well this article addresses both of those questions, in a sense.

First of all, I think it’s interesting that just as we’re talking about how Jersey Shore is taking the reality television world by storm, this column shows up pointing out the show’s irrelevance. That got me thinking about the lifetime of reality shows. Jersey Shore is in (correct me if I’m wrong) its 3^rd season and possibly getting old, while shows like The Real World and Survivor are cruising through decades with high ratings. What separates the two? My guess is that Jersey Shore relies on the same characters season after season, while shows like Survivor and The Real World have a different cast each season.

That brings me to the next point: This show apparently is real enough to be considered reality. It’s the realism that’s making the show repetitive and boring. The link claims that the cast has been stuck inside so much because of their own fame. That’s real. The Ronnie/Sammi feuding is seemingly never ending. That’s real. True and not so exciting personalities are beginning to show through the false, exciting scripts and ultimately, the reality of the real world is beginning to take its toll on the show in a definitely negative manner.

Is Jersey Shore really getting old?

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/gym-tan-yawning-why-were-so-over-jersey-shore--2650

This is a pretty interesting article that fits right in with our class conversation from last week. We were arguing back and forth about what reality television really is. Is it really that entertaining? Is it even real enough to be called “reality”? Well this article addresses both of those questions, in a sense.

First of all, I think it’s interesting that just as we’re talking about how Jersey Shore is taking the reality television world by storm, this column shows up pointing out the show’s irrelevance. That got me thinking about the lifetime of reality shows. Jersey Shore is in (correct me if I’m wrong) its 3^rd season and possibly getting old, while shows like The Real World and Survivor are cruising through decades with high ratings. What separates the two? My guess is that Jersey Shore relies on the same characters season after season, while shows like Survivor and The Real World have a different cast each season.

That brings me to the next point: This show apparently is real enough to be considered reality. It’s the realism that’s making the show repetitive and boring. The link claims that the cast has been stuck inside so much because of their own fame. That’s real. The Ronnie/Sammi feuding is seemingly never ending. That’s real. True and not so exciting personalities are beginning to show through the false, exciting scripts and ultimately, the reality of the real world is beginning to take its toll on the show in a definitely negative manner.

Disney Haters

While we’ve brought up plenty of reasons in class why Disney movies may perpetuate some negative images and behaviors for girls, I think many people agree these movies are pretty harmless. At the age that we begin watching them, we aren’t thinking about the sex appeal of Princess Jasmine, the patriarchy displayed in The Little Mermaid or that the dust in the sky spells “sex” in The Lion King. We like the pretty colors and fun songs. (To this day I have a Disney playlist on my iPod. Don’t judge.)

But some people just have to try and ruin it. I’m sure plenty of us have looked for the supposed sexual hidden messages and innuendos in some of our favorite “instant classics” (Prof. McCauliff….), but we probably don’t do this with an “Ahah! I knew he was evil!” attitude or because we want to tear down the empire that is Disney. Most of us tend to like the feel-good world of Disney. But then there are those people who, for whatever reason, take things too far. Like this video, for example. The creator obviously has some vendetta against Walt and his peeps. Backed by eerie music, the video claims that Disney was a Freemason and out to destroy children, using “illuminati mind control” and subliminal messages. Watch a few seconds of it, and you’ll see what I mean. Watch the whole thing, and you’ll just get sick of it.

Come on people. These are kids movies; and without them, I think all of our childhoods would have been a little duller. We can analyze them all we want, but plenty of us grew up to be capable adults despite all of the supposed dreadful examples set by our beloved princesses and talking animals. If these movies begin to drastically affect a child in the ways that have been proposed, the problem is not the movies, it’s the parenting. Kids can watch as much TV and as many movies as they want, but it is the examples set and the lessons taught by parents and other influential people in their lives that actually shape who they are. Disney has very little to do with it.

Burberry: Selling the 'Trench'

Angela Ahrendts, the CEO of Burberry came to BSU (being an alumni herself) on March 16th to speak about the new launch of their digital site. Burberry needs to sell this "idea of cool" so their CEO travels all around the States promoting their idea of cool with the "trench" look. Being the digital native generation that we all are, it seems fitting that this is essential to any label nowadays.She also spoke of how she came to be were she is in the industry a bit, but the main focus and the BIG presentation was about Burberry's new site, Burberry World (the mobile version of Burberry World debuted the week before).

The stage in Sursa hall sported a screen above the stage showing the Burberry logo along with a timed presentation (Pecha Kucha style), slideshow of video along with Angela reading her speech from her iPad. Angela even sported an iPad, focusing this idea of cool and fashion on the new and the now. Her essence of cool right off the bat was more than needed, but add the stiletto boots, her Burberry trench, colored hair and call it a day.

She is the essence of cool. She is being sold to an audience of college students in Midwest America, from her roots of where she is from and we all are taking her in. Many forget, or at least I do about the promotional tapestry behind her and focus on her, just her. This is what it takes to make it big, become an important figurehead of a global company, and have a family to boot.

Burberry has used celebrity icons to sell their merchandise and clothing. Emma Watson, Kate Moss, and others have sported and been the campaign icons for Burberry. This new online and digital age for Burberry is just a new step in creating that "cool" and "in" look. They even sport new musicians and up and coming new talent on the site suggesting to their customers that they want them to express themselves through music and clothing. The company has spread, like most have, to Facebook and Twitter. They are selling that a brand equals a promise to their customers and that what is most important is the brand's intangible relationship with it's customers.

This global company is selling to millions daily and is the largest company in the UK to date. Established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry, this is the 155 years celebration of Burberry and I am sure there will be many more to come.

Baghdad Blogging

When it comes to world changing events like 9/11 or more recently, the disaster in Japan, most of us will do one of two things to learn about the latest news: 1) we will reach for our television remotes and instantly change the channel to something like CNN or MSNBC. We instantly want to learn or hear more about what is happening. We see the reporters already in locations like Japan or in New Orleans, during Katrina, and we trust the reports because they are experiencing the effects of the disaster and see the reactions of people, army or volunteers. 2) we may not be able to get to a tv but with the world being connected with the internet, everything is just a few clicks away. Websites like ABCNews and NYTimes are just two of the favorites millions of people will visit as an alternative to watching tv. With huge corporations like these, people who write blogs and attempt to share their experiences, views and news with the world are deemed un-creditable and unreliable. Baghdad Burning was a blog by an Iraqi woman and she talked about life in Iraq during the war. Through her blog you can witness the terrifying events of everyday life for her and other women in Iraq. While blogs may be biased or lean in one direction more than the other, it's still, in my opinion, a source to gather different view points. Reporters from CNN and ABCNews may tell us how life is being lived in foreign countries like Japan after the earthquake but they get to go home and get away from it all. Blogs have the opportunity to give updates days after the reporters go home.

Why Discredit Bloggers So Easily?

But really, why discredit bloggers so easily?

Bloggers can be trusted to a certain extent, yes I see this, but there are times when they can be helpful to a company. I brought up in class the other day that bloggers can be found useful to newspapers and companies. Actually newspapers have already seized this idea of using bloggers to bring in a new audience for the new media age online.

If they like what a blogger is writing or believe it, they can and will recruit said blogger and pay them to write for their company whatever they want for their companies purposes of course. Thus, giving backing to the bloggers themselves and making them credible sources of information. Yes, this would mean that bloggers would become reporter's in the sense of the word, but also a blogger's accreditation has been given.

I have read some funny quotes about blogging. One in particular states, "blogging requires passion and authority, which leaves out most people." Passion is one of the key words in this statement that makes it very true. A person needs passion behind writing, but even more so, a blog. Who would want to write for fun? Poets, professors (possibly), musicians, etc. But in this case I can state that bloggers have a sense of intense passion behind their writing. Their reason for blogging can be because of strong emotions such as intense hate, anger, joy, happiness, etc. But bloggers need something to write about and most of the blog posts are behind some sort of emotion and the sense of needing to be heard.

Another is, "Blogging. With the right stage and the right choice, there's not limit to the size of your audience." This quote says it all, once it's on the internet, it's everywhere.

My reality TV

Pick a night and turn on your tv. You will find most channels now have some sort of reality tv show. We can change the channel to watch the latest episode of Jersey Shore or watch an exciting performance on American Idol. We might prefer to watch people starve themselves on Survivor or watch them get fired by Donald Trump on the Apprentice. Personally, I always enjoyed and hoped Flavor Flav would find his true love on the Flavor of Love, I'm still hoping for you Flav. Point is, there are so many kinds of reality shows now days that we don't need to watch shows like Jersey Shore, Real World or Celebrity Rehab to get our fix of drama. And for the parents out there who don't want their children watching men and women in their early thirties getting drunk in public, there's tv shows for the entire family to get hooked on together. Shows like Cake Boss and Kate Plus 8, those kids are so cute, are more family friendly and little-kid appropriate. Television producers realize that not everybody wants to watch the drama unfold all the time. So they capitalized on viewers who want to watch tv shows about things more relatable to them. For instance, Yes to the Dress and Flip This House are two examples of show viewers tune in night after night as an alternative to the drama. Personally, I'm more a fan of shows with competitions bewteen average joes. The Amazing Race and Top Shot are among the top on my list. But the truth is, ALL reality tv shows are addictive. Good luck America, soon our country will be governed by the Situation as President and Flavor Flav as Vice President. I'm officially throwing in the towel.

Old Navy's new line of commercials

Among many advertisements over the years, Old Navy sure has had it's run of different genres. They have done live action commercials with real people enjoying the clothes they are wearing, but times have changed, people need to be more engaged and sold the clothes not because they want to be like the people wearing them, but because their commercials are funny.

Now shoppers of Old Navy clothes and merchandise are thrown these commercials that have dance numbers in them, modelquins, and idolized persona's of girls the consumer should model themselves after. Even though this is just to sell a product, it is surely doing it's job. The modelquin commercials have been so popular that Old Navy set out to the public asking them to act like a modelquin and win prizes, FOR OLD NAVY! To me, this is a bit ridiculous, humans acting like non- humans is a bit creepy itself, but obviously people will do whatever it takes to be that idolized image that everyone strives to be. But for a clothing store to go the whole nine yards...it's a bit ridiculous to say the least.

The may be trying to build up their brand loyalty, but the Old Navy team is going well out of their way with lots of money for goodness knows where and selling, selling, selling!

Shoppers need to be critical consumers when taking these commercials and advertisements in. If this is what tv advertising has come to, then we might as well break out in music and song every time we hear the words Old Navy. :/

(first one) C-U-T-E: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqIP6xVB6U8&feature=related

(newest one) Layer Player: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSFyjikDuq0&NR=1

D-r-e-s-s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58zDr78q92I&NR=1

"Welcome to the Ankle show": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1uoQE2k4Tg&NR=1

This is just for kicks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVxhd78u9Fs&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1WFZ-8rhbs&NR=1

Pop Culture Wrap-Up

Well, with this being by 5^th and final blog post for the semester, I can finally say I have enjoyed writing these blogs. I never knew how interested I could become in popular culture, and by simply writing blog posts about how I feel about certain issues in pop culture, made me feel better. In the beginning of the semester, I never thought that I would have a twitter account, submit posts on a blog, or even care about issues like videogames having an effect on how people view the war.

Pop culture effects me everyday and I didn’t even realize it until I started this course. Shows like Jersey Shore, and magazines like GQ, with new clothing styles, music, and trends actually do affect the way I dress, party, and live my life. I will admit, that I have been guilty of fist pumping at a party. But don’t worry; I was not the only one, about everyone at the party was fist pumping. Sometimes I wonder if my friends are actual Italian Guidos, and just came back from the shore. Some guys I know wear shirts with big attention-grabbing graphics, gel their hair, tan, and sometimes even do their laundry. If Guido culture is showing up in Muncie, Indiana, then this is obviously showing pop culture spreads everywhere!

Another thing that I really have come to appreciate this semester is Twitter.

When we talked about starting up a Twitter project for this class I immediately thought “I didn’t have a twitter account all this time, and now one of my classes is requiring me to set up an account?” Initially I thought I would just use it for the project then never use it again. Oh, how I was wrong. I now have a Twitter tab on my Internet browser, follow 135 people, and have 111 followers.

Follow me @J_Blizz260

Over and Out.

Trash T.V

Is trash T.V bad for women? I think it is to an extent. Most T.V shows have the typical back-stabbing bitch that plays the part of the bitch you don’t want to mess with. Or so she seems like a real hard ass on the outside but at some point along the plot she is the one who usually cracks and cries. Then there is the sweet small town girl who gets along with about everyone except the back-stabbing bitch who probably doesn’t like her. The small town girl is relatable to almost everyone and is the girl that all the guys’ want but can’t have since she usually is “saving herself”. Then there is the crazy girl who probably has a drinking problem. She’s the one who gets really drunk at some point or another and makes a fool of herself or sleeps with one of the guys. She is usually liked by everyone until everyone has to clean up her puke from a long night out. Then there is the hot, sexy girl who has class and a nice ass but still holds it all together in the end. She is defiantly liked by all the guys and that is not the case for all the girls who are most likely jealous of her. Why do T.V shows put women into these certain categories? Is it because that is what everyone wants to see, or it’s because that’s what these producers think the audience wants to see? I think it’s a combination of both because in all reality, if producers were to put ordinary women with normal personalities on T.V the show would probably not do as well as others with these stereotypical personalities. This kind of T.V is really not good for women and gives a bad impression on little girls who think that is how most girls act. Will these stereotypical types of women eventually change on T.V? No one really knows.