In a Relationship With--The Internet (Relationship Status: It's Complicated)

My relationship with the internet is about as rocky as the mountains that run from Canada to New Mexico. We've been in a serious relationship for quite some time now and after being together for so long, we are starting to hit some really intense rough patches. However, when I'm feeling down or just wanting to relax and hang out, the internet is always there for me. What can I say? I'm in love.

In class, we read an article about the internet by Steven Johnson that talked about people's relationship with the world wide web and what good things come from it and what bad thing come from it as well. For me, I'd have to say that I am about a 50/50 on a good day....well really any day and here's why. I'll go on the internet for school and homework which equals good, however I'll also go on the internet while doing homework and watch YouTube videos or go on Facebook which equals bad.

I have been messing around online before, just reading things on Facebook or catching up on the videos from my subscriptions from YouTube and I'll see a video that interests me so I'll click on it and watch it, then I'll do it again with another video and before I know it, it's three in the morning and I'm watching videos of naked men fighting snakes in the mud or creepy puppets murdering children. I have no idea how I got here, but I'm here and it's happening. Sometimes I'll just sit back and really evaluate my life and my time and question my decisions.

But, the internet may taketh away but the internet also giveth back. I am much more connected with my friends and people from all over the world thanks to the internet and specifically, Facebook. I'm on there daily checking my news feeds and seeing what my friends are up to. I also find internet articles or sites very helpful such as Dictionary.com, Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary, and several others. I like that I can go on to KCRG.com and read interesting news stories without waiting for the 6:00 or 10:00 news. I would say that to a certain extent, the internet has made me smarter or at least let me be smarter by giving me tools to further educate myself and I like that. I'm glad I'm of the generation that is so fully immersed in the internet, I just hope that it doesn't become a huge negative issue in the future.

News: Real or Fluff?

We watched several news stories from ABC World News in class and then we talked about how they are either real news stories that are important or fluff stories that are there to just fill up space. This was part of what Chuck Klosterman was talking about in his article.

When we watched the news stories, it was the day before the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, so the bigger news story was of that day when the president was killed. The story went into detail about the plane, Air Force One, that carried the president back from Dallas. They had to cut out seats and other parts of the plane to get his casket into the body of the plane because they didn't want to put him in the cargo hold. Then they talked about the days back and the ride back as well. The plane is now a memorial and is out of use, however I believe they said 7 more presidents used the plane after Kennedy before it was retired. Now this story is a big one. They gave detailed information about the situation and also unknown facts about the plane that some people, myself included, did not know about. It was one that many people would have liked to hear, especially the older population who were around when Kennedy was killed. It's important because the death of the leader of a country is huge, especially when he is assassinated. 

Now, there were several "fluff" stories that they stuck in there between the bigger more important stories, like one about same sex marriage that got about 30 seconds of attention. There was also a story about an American Korean War vet who was "captured" by North Korean officials while leaving after being there for some sort of remembrance event. This story might have been moderately important, but it got little air time and didn't have much information or detail. If they really truly cared about an 85 year old man being kept from returning to America by a country that we aren't very friendly with, it would have been as big as the Kennedy story and would have probably had guest speakers. But none of that happened and there wasn't much of detailed information. That is why I think it was just a filler story to take up time before the JFK story.

The Disney Generation

Millennials! Who are we? We are the generation born from 1990 to 2000. For awhile, we were known as Generation Y, because no one really knew what to call us. Nothing really defined us, but then, with the new millennium, they decided on the name Millennials. I, for one, think that name rocks! It's cool and different and no one else has ever been known as that before. I knew the 90's were awesome, but this just makes them better!

In past generations, there have been significant situations or moments in history to define those born in that time. The best known is pretty obvious, The Baby Boomers! They are a well known generation, however, the generation that came after them aren't so well known. They are simply called Generation X. It's pretty lame (no offense guys), but I mean, your parents were The Baby Boomers and your kids are the Millennials. Not having a defining title is pretty rough, I think. Anyway, like I said, most generations had something happen to define them, however Generation X really didn't have anything big and significant that was worth naming them after. 

Many people thought the same of the Millennials, that was why we were known as Generation Y for so long. However, the new millennium isn't much to be known for, but, in Chuck Klosterman's article, he tried to change that for Gen. X and tried to define Generation X with a pop culture phenomenon, which was the StarWars Trilogy. That is actually a pretty cool thing to be known for actually. Too bad that's not what they are actually called. So in keeping with the pop culture theme, what popular culture event has happened that could defined the Millennials?

Well, I think there are a few obvious options that could define the current generation pretty well. However, there is one that is near and dear to my heart. Cue the African music! In 1994 Walt Disney Animated Studios released the now Disney classic, The Lion King. This movie was basically my whole world growing up. I watched it probably 5 to 10 times a day! My mom would stick it into the VCR (remember those?!) and I'd sit there mesmerized by the films wonder and amazing animation. Then when it was over, she'd rewind it and I'd watch it again. I can quote this movie beginning to end perfectly. The Lion King earned $987,483,777 worldwide at the box office. It is the 18th highest grossing film, the 2nd highest grossing animated film of all time worldwide and the highest grossing film of the Walt Disney Animated Studios [The Lion King: Wikipedia]. 

Now, the reason I believe this movie should define a whole generation is simple. It is one of the best known Disney movies ever and it was part of a time known as the Disney Renaissance, which was a period when Disney animated films brought back Disney's credibility using well-known stories. The movies in the Disney Renaissance were, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, and Tarzan. However, if singling The Lion King out isn't really something you are comfortable with, then we can just call it The Disney Generation. Because many Disney classics and masterpieces were created in this time period [Disney Renaissance: Wikipedia].

So, here we are, with vision of Scar killing his brother and saying those famous words, "Long live the King!", Arial leaving her home to find true love, Mulan defying her "place" to save her father and in the end her country, and several other classic characters shinning in their respective movies. I am now in the biggest Disney movie mood, it's crazy! Go Disney Generation!

Reality TV Changes People

In class we read and learned about reality television shows and what they do to the people on them. We learned that the people on the show eventually start to slip into archetypes which are pattern or behavioral set that people fall into. Chuck Klosterman is the one who mentioned this in his article about reality television shows.

Basically, Klosterman said that people were becoming archetypes because of the situations they were put into with the shows. He also said that the producers of the shows try to have visible cultural differences so that it's very easy for people to pick out the differences about the group of people in the shows. So if a gay man was on the show, he would always be seen talking about being gay or if a black man was on the show, he'd always be seen talking about racism or being black and the difficulties or something like that. And come on, in real "real life" people like that don't always talk about those things. They are real everyday people who talk about class, grades, jobs, t.v., friends, family, sports, food and everything else. It's actually quite annoying when you think about it.

I do think this is a really good point Klosterman brings up, which usually I'm a bit against his thoughts because it seems like he just likes to rant and yell about everything. But I mean, at least with this idea, he's pretty on point; whether he agrees with it or disagrees with it is another story. In my own opinion though, I don't like that shows do this. I mean, I've been pulled in by reality television more than once and I was even on the "Jersey Shore" bandwagon, but only for like half a season and then it ended. But still, I got caught up in it and this isn't even the first nor the last time. I agree that the people on the shows fall into these types but I guess I don't understand why this has to be. I'm sure I'd watch a reality show about ACTUAL people instead of scripted or people just being stereotypical.

Accidentally Racist

This is a very touchy subject to talk about. I've had many conversations that turned ugly when the word "racist" comes in. In class we listened to the song "Accidental Racist" by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J and then watched news reports about the song. One was of a circle of people yelling and complaining about it and the other was the View ladies squawking about the song and eating chips.

The song is basically about the Brad saying that he just wants to put all the past racism and hate behind him and move on and try to be friends but also not come off as racist to the black people that he meets. LL's part is about not being sure if he can trust what Brad is saying, but also that he'd like to put it behind him too and move on and try not to live in the past. There were a few lines about forgiving the iron chains and forgetting the gold chains, that a black anchor or spokesperson didn't like in the CNN clip. He sort of freaked out about it and in my opinion kind of played the race card and didn't really take the real message from the song. The ladies from the View, however, agreed with the song and said it was a good mix of both sides and a way to try and mend the tough strands of the situation of racism. This is where I stand on the matter.

I can understand how people might get up in arms about the song, but I mean hey at least Brad and LL are trying! They aren't just sitting by and letting all the issues and touchy topics engulf them. They embraced their situation and tried to at least get the message out that to put it behind them. I totally agree. I honestly feel that both sides play the race card WAY too much anymore. History is a powerful tool and something everyone should learn from, but that's just it. We need to learn from it and fix it for the future and if all we do is dwell on it and cherry pick out situations to further our thoughts and sides on the matter then we'll never get anywhere and there will always be hate. I for one do not need anymore hate in my heart. And the world certainly doesn't need it either.

There were a lot of generalizations made in the song and people didn't really agree with them because they said not many "real" people wear chains around their neck and such. And I can understand that, but I mean, that is just basically taking the song at face value and not really understanding the deeper meaning to the song. I mean, it's country music, so they can't have deep unknown metaphors about racism in their songs, they have to give clear examples so the listeners can understand what's going on. I just think that people are basically being racist about the song when it's trying to say that they shouldn't be. 

We need to learn from our mistakes, realize all that has gone on in the generations since and get past it all so that we can work towards a peace filled world. This calls for a line from my favorite movie, The Lion King, "Hakuna Matata."

Intertextuality

Intertextuality doesn't look like a real word, but trust me it is. It basically means taking one form of text, (book, movie, idea) and mixing it together with something else to create something new and creative. You might not think of a lot of things as being intertextual, but it can actually be quite surprising. In the article we read in class called "Bootleg Culture" intertextuality was part of what the author talked about with taking to works and mixing them together. The article also talked about plagiarizing works, but mostly about taking music and mixing it with more music to make a new song and how Copy Rights are tough to work with, but usual lead to creative new products that are better than what they would have been the first time.

For example, in class our professor showed us images of pez that looked like The Simpsons, Chubaka as a lego, and Harry Potter with a theme park. At first we may just think these things are nothing more then fun places to go or cool advertising ideas, and while they are, they are also a completely new product that is a mix of two things we as consumers have already grown to love. Now that there is a name to all the interesting mix of products out there, I am happily surprised at how much of popular culture is intertextual. I myself have several products of One Direction that are intertextual. I've got bracelets, magnets, stickers and a few more things that are very interesting, but that isn't all. I have seen a show I watch do it many times, but one particular set of episodes really stands out to me. Family Guy is a cartoon show and it's quite clear from the effort and time put into the episodes it shows that the creators love Star Wars.

I have actually seen this episodes and it is quite good. Anyway, I think this is a really clear depiction of intertextuality. It's basically a big sore thumb sticking out to fans of the show and the movies. The episodes follow the basic structure of the movies, but with the shows characters playing the roles in the movie and a few typical Family Guy scenes thrown in.

I like intertextuality and I'm actually really interested in finding more mix ups with popular culture, especially since pop culture is everywhere and part of every day life. I'll be keeping my eyes open from now on.

What I've Learned So Far

Well, it's been an interesting journey so far. I have learned a lot, even though I usually have no idea how. That's how class is for me. I sit there and follow along with everything but never real feel like I'm learning. Then one day I'm with friends and I just spew knowledge and fact at them and we all sit back in shock. That's when I realize that I learned a lot from my past and present classes and it really makes me feel good. I'm sort of glad that I'm learning without knowing it. It feels less like work and more just like life. Which, isn't that what life is all about? Learning while you go along?

We have covered many topics in my Popular Culture class this semester and I have learned a lot, despite not really knowing it. But I recently had a discussion with my mother about violence in the world right now. I asked her what she thought of the world and how much violence she thought was in Iowa and our city alone. She watches a lot of Law and Order and murder investigation shows, so I wasn't surprised when she told me that she thought the outside world was really dangerous. That was when I remembered the topic we discussed in class about violence and "Mean World Syndrome". My mom TOTALLY has this. She's so paranoid and afraid that whenever I leave the house, even during the day time that I'm going to get hurt or killed or something. Even when I'm just going right up the street.

I told her about the things I learned in class. How media and television shows dramatize reality to sell a story or show. How crime has actually gone down in the last several years, yet gun purchases have gone up. I told her that people are actually much safer now for many reasons, and I was met with two reactions. She first started off by trying to say that I wasn't entirely right and that there was still violence outside of the walls of our house and then when I tried again to just ease her worries, she got angry and stopped listening.

This actually scared me a little. If my mother, whom I think is a fairly reasonable person (depending on the subject), won't listen to me when I give her facts done in studies, than who's to say that the majority of the world or even just the U.S. won't turn a blind eye to the facts after awhile. If it's not what they want to hear then it's not worth listening to. Now I could be wrong here, but it seems like my mother and perhaps a percentage of the world, want to be afraid. It feels like they want to think that it's dangerous out in the real world. And whether this is just used as an excuse to stay inside or if they really feel this way, it seems sad and rather lonely. 

I for one am rather happy that the world isn't as cruel and evil as I may have thought. I was raised to look for the good in people and if there is evidence supporting this, that's even better. However, that's not to say that I will be leaving my house without even thinking of protection or looking out for myself. But I will be leaving with an eased mind. If I can get rid of any form of stress on my person and my brain, then I'll take it right away.

Muscular Violence

What makes an attractive man? Shape? Intellect? Smell? Sure some women will put those on their list, but a lot of women like a man to be rough and physically fit. And willing to get into some danger or a fight probably wouldn't hurt their chances either. After all, as a society, that's what we want, right? Haven't we always said, "boys will be boys" when they beat the snot out of each other? Our culture clearly expects it, thus we as the people do too.

A typical "hot" guy is usually one with muscles and a shaped body who could mess someone up if he needed to. Violence just fits right in there nicely. Right alongside masculinity. Boys are encouraged to defend themselves and stand up for their families and ladies to show dominance and courage and bravery. Not just with domestic issues, but in war they are also encouraged to get out there and show that they aren't afraid.

I, personally, am a little neutral on the subject. I mean, yes if I was with a man, I'd feel better knowing that if someone tried to attack us, he'd be ready and able to kick some butt to protect me/us. Then again, I'm not one who really likes violence when it happens. I'm a little hostile and may talk a big game about taking action against someone or something with less then passive means, but I'd never really do it. I don't like the idea of others getting hurt due to the actions of another, especially if I could prevent it. But, if I had to pick a side, I'd say I fall more on the negative aspect of pushing boys and men to be violent just to show that they are manly.

When getting to the subject of violence on television, like in the articles we read, I don't think children should be exposed to so much. As an adult, I know I can handle it, but they are young and impressionable and may not know that it's either (a) not okay, or (b) really scary and intense when it happens in real life. So, on the one hand I agree with the APA about being weary of what children watch on television. It can have long lasting negative effects. However, I also see where the ACLU is coming from and I support keeping the rights and such upheld. As the matter goes, I think what the FCC is doing right now is pretty much all they can do. T.V. is pretty regulated and the harsh stuff only comes on at night in the later hours when children should be asleep. It's on the parents if they keep them up or let them stay up and watch adult content on T.V.

High School Football Is Too Dangerous!

Call me old fashioned, but I don't think football should be as intense as it is. I know it's the second biggest sport in America next to Baseball, but come on people! It's bad enough that we have grown men having horrible problems from the sport, but now young teenage boys are getting hurt and even dying! Okay, can we all just take a step back for a second and actually think about that? Teenage boys, kids, are d y i n g. Their lives are being lost because grown ups can't get it through their thick skulls that they are just kids and should be treated that way. A college scholarship means nothing to a kid with permanent brain damage or a boy who's lost his life.

In the video we watch, two teen boys were hospitalized due to heat stroke because their coaches wouldn't cancel practice when it was way to hot to be outside. One of the coaches even said that they won't cancel because of the heat. They still have to have practice. No, I'm sorry, you don't have to do anything. No one is making you practice that much and I know for a fact none of those kid's parents want them out there when their lives are in danger. The video talked about how high school football is more intense than college football and even gets national coverage. College level football is where NFL players get picked from. How in the hell is this more intense than basically try outs for the professional sport? That literally blows my mind.

When I was in high school, we never took football that seriously. Ever. Sure, the coach would get a little intense and yell at the players, but my school's team was never pushed so hard that their health was in danger. I'm not sure if it was because we were a smaller school and never would have really gotten any coverage, or if it was the fact that the coach understood the dangers and never wanted to win bad enough to put boys in danger. I can say one thing, I'm damn glad I never had to experience a fellow classmate being hospitalized for a sport.

I know something needs to be done about this, in fact a lot of people know this, but the truth is not enough people want to do anything about it. All they do is set rules and guidelines and hope those work, or even give advice, but that still doesn't do much. Young men and children are having serious brain injuries and trauma which can lead to horrible diseases like dementia and even suicide. That is just not right. There is no reason for that and it really makes me sad. I hope I can help improve this problem in some way. That'll be a life goal of mine now, for sure.

Romance: As Seen on T.V.

Chuck Kolsterman talked about romance is his article, This is Emo. But not just regular romance, the kind that people base their real life romances off of. I'm talking about our ideas of romance and love that we get from the books we read and the shows and movies we watch. He said that people want the kind of love that fictional characters have, so they base their real life love off of that and almost always come out disappointed. He himself said that he could never satisfy any woman and vise versa, because they both have an image of what love and romance is supposed to be that could never be real. Klosterman even said that he wants a marriage like the Huxtable's had. But those sort of thoughts are unfair to everyone, because no one can ever be that happy or that in love.

I, myself, have fallen pray to the happy love that I see on t.v. or in movies. My favorite kind is sort of like Disney princesses, but not at the same time because I don't always have the idea of those princesses in my head. I can't really explain where I personally get my misguided ideas about love from, but I see it all over the place. He gets the girl, she gets the boy, she takes him back, he falls for her, she falls for him, they are finally together after a hard struggle, she changes him for the better and they walk off hand-in-hand; either way you slice it, it's all lovey dovey unrealistic ideas that are drilled into our head. Klosterman gets very upset with this idea and blames Coldplay and John Cusack  for his "the one that got away" moment. I personally think he's just a little bit bitter about the subject, and should realize that everyone is going to feel this way and think this way. It's been drilled into everyone's heads and as long as they can accept that real true love is messy and hard and almost impossible, I think he (Klosterman) and the rest of the world can get along just fine.

That being said, I believe that I personally love the relationship that Corey Matthews and Topanga Lawrence. I grew up with their love and while I know it's unlikely that I'll ever find anything like what they had, though they were pretty realistic, I would still like to try. I mean, I'll go in knowing that it will be work, but I think anyone can find true love.....a girl can dream, can't she?!

Killing My Candy

Okay, I would first just like to say that this picture angers me so much I'm not ever sure how to describe it. Part of me wants to think that this is fake, but the other part knows it's not and it sickens me. I like KitKats. They are one of my favorite candies, but after seeing this, I'm really thinking about never buying another KitKat in my life again. This ad is so off putting that I don't even want to think about the product it's selling. I'd never buy it if this was all I had to go off of.

Now, to get to the assigned part of this post. Jean Kilbourne is a former model who made a video called, 'Killing Us Softly', which is about ads in magazines and media coverage in general that degrades women. She made several points about ads that promote violence, disrespectful action, and inappropriate sexual towards women. This is obviously highly inappropriate and degrading to this women. I never really noticed it much when I flipped through a magazine, because I never really cared about the ads anyway, but not that my eyes have been opened, I'm outraged.

This ad clearly is suggesting sexual activity happening out of frame towards this women. And coupled with the words off to the side, I cannot help but feel awkward about this picture in several ways. Does it mean that an extra finger is needed from the person off screen or does it mean using the candy bar? That may be a bit of an inappropriate question, but the text clearly implies it. After seeing this, I'm going to think twice when I hear the oh so familiar and formerly appealing jingle, "Break me off a piece of that KitKat Bar."

Sexiness In Today's World

In class we went in depth about sexiness and what people think of it in today's culture. Yes, it is still something that people don't really like to talk about when it concerns their own involvement with it, but society now is much more open to sex and sexiness now. Personally, I think that is a huge step forward for society as a whole. We accept sex right up front. Take Miley Cyrus for example, she is huge in pop culture right now for her VMA video and her giant overly racy leap from Disney star to "rock star". She dominated the media, which is no stranger to sexiness at all. Since reading these articles, I've noticed a lot more sex portrayed in the commercials I see on t.v. and on the internet. Yet, it's so subtle (sometimes) I don't even know it's happening to me. Other times, however, sexiness is the whole basis behind the ad.

I found this more common in the internet ads I see when watching YouTube videos. After reading Klosterman's article about pron and how it furthered and was a major driving point for technology, I can see why it's still used on the internet now, just with a little more clothes on. Sexiness is just a part of our lives now. I expect it, you (presumably) expect it, the whole world more likely expect it because that's just where we are now. It's in television, movies, and the media and since these are things we all watch and see on a daily basis, it's hard to not just jump on the bandwagon. Celebrities are even getting into it, just like in the articles; it brings them closer to us, so that we can feel like they are more human. And what to make someone feel more human than good old fashioned sex?

Blending Popular Culture and Happiness

Some parts of mixing popular culture and happiness are confusing to me, but then again I sort of understand it. I mean, in my Popular Culture class last week we took a small quiz on popular icons and household names to see how well we all knew pop culture and I felt really good and happy when I knew who Luke Skywalker was and who a little cartoon doctor was, but once it was over, I was just back to my usual "whatever" mood. Not to say that I'm just a lazy person who never feels anything or has a cruddy mood all the time, but I mean I just felt whatever. Like once it was over, nothing in my life changed. 


Popular culture is a part of everyday life and it's hard to pick it out of a line up of a typical day. However, in my class we talked about social media being a huge part of pop culture and that's when it hit me. Almost all of my friends have Twitter or Facebook or both! I too have both, but I'm not totally obsessed with it like my friends. I know people who get upset when they don't get more followers on Twitter than someone and for the longest time I secretly thought they were so dumb for caring so much for people that they didn't even really know. Then I found Pinterest. At first it was just another site like Facebook and Twitter, but after awhile I became just as obsessed as my friends had with their respective social media obsessions.  Now I find myself getting on and smiling when I see that I have new followers. I'll brag to my friends when someone knew follows me and I'll even say to myself, "You're pinterest is much better now that you follow me." I never thought I'd get so caught up in something like this, but who care? I am genuinely happy when I get onto Pinterest and add things to my boards, so why should I worry? Pinterest makes me happy and so does One Direction and The Big Bang Theory. This happiness might not be something that will make me happy forever or longer than watching an episode or listening to a song, but that isn't bad, because then I'll just fill it with something else that makes me happy.....like Pinterest. I'm fine with being caught up in popular culture as long as I'm happy with it.