Disney Channel

     Is it just me, or are the shows on Disney Channel progressively getting worse? Maybe it's because I'm getting older and don't appreciate the humor that's targeted for a young child, but it just makes me sad. All of the shows I watched growing up were so awesome to me, and it sucks that they are all gone. Shows like Even Stevens, Kim Possible, and Phil of the Future were like gold to me. I remember spending my Saturdays just laying around watching my favorite shows on the tube. Now there is Dog With A Blog... the name speaks for it's self. I'm almost scared to look up the old Disney shows that I loved so much, because I might ruin my childhood memories by realizing that they are just as lame as the current shows. 

     As technology progresses I feel like Television in general is turning lame. It's getting put on the back burner with the introduction of Netflix, tablets, and improved laptops. Who wants to sit in front of a stationary object, watching only whats being shown with little choice, when you can have your entertainment right in your hands? I have a hard time adapting to change apparently, but sometimes I just want to rewind and relive my childhood when everything was awesome and Smart House and Life Size were still aired on the Disney Channel. Maybe Disney could have a throwback channel so the kids now can see how awesome we had it (and so I can relive my childhood). Sigh... A girl can dream.

All aboard the Civil Rights Act 2.0

The last few weeks have been a slight bummer; we can't seem to get a break of seeing the glaring issues that still reside in our country.  Our country can say we are striving for reforms in terms of civil equality but from Dr. McCauliff and the the messages the class is trying to establish, I make the argument that this is all rhetoric with crossed fingers, with a mean grin.  Which also brings up that preconceived notion that rhetoric has a crooked tendency, touched on quite frequently throughout the first weeks of class and as an underlying theme from then on.  The LGBT community have been fighting for now years for legalized marriage yet the trend of homophobia is still rampant.  I have friends that are deeply homophobic and know of others that take fairly ridiculous actions to avoid gay couples; literally stepping off of a side walk from passing a couple.  It is utterly despicable  and pathetic, just because of a sexual orientation that differs from the norm, we act completely uncivilized over.  Due to America's tendency to be Christian in religious followings, it also doesn't help that in some interpretations, but not all, of the Bible label homosexuality as sinful.  I will end with that on religion as I do not plan to argue over religion, bash, or criticize, however it is an issue that must be noted.  It also does not help that any type of ethnicity or sexuality that does not conform to white american or heterosexual orientation depicted in popular media has to conform to a since of moderation.  We can only approve of each type in small doses, within a specific context and under regulation.  We admire Ellen for her stance and her coming out (but only after time had settled after the storm that had been caused from that moment), but god forbid we see her partner and their affection towards each other.  But it is totally okay for our white ethnicity to display damn near pornographic footage in everyday life throughout popular TV.  Just watch an hour of MTV, you'll get an idea.

And after watching how sports constructs the hyper masculinity and militarism in popular culture, both differing ethnicities, gender  and sexualities are still in jeopardy.  It is a tragedy, but it is a reality.  Homosexual men oppressed to come out due to hyper masculinity in sports is shameful.  Women being oppressed against pursuing a passion within sports, also a complete shame.  Who ordained one person to strip a human of their rights and of their status as an equal?  What is so hard to comprehend that we are all human beings, all with common goals of living life to its fullest potential?  And yet we still struggle with the acceptance of equality, the acceptance that of ethnicities other than whites as being equal; I still see our ethnocentrism showing with our blatant world policing and other ridiculous acts of hegemony.

 I am filled with so much anger and sadness; why can we not live in a world of peace?  Why must be war with others?  Why must we have violence within our relationships?  And our popular culture and media gratifies and conforms to these issues.  Why is equality such a hard thing to come by in this day and age?  We still have a long road ahead of us before we can fully be happy with our situation.  I believe classes and mentalities that Dr. McCauliff are selling (don't misread that statement) are future hopes for us.  We, as a collective body, can show our underlying issues to the public.  We have a duty, now, to promote progressive trains of thought and these can be simple thoughts, too; the mentality that everyone, you, me, him and her, are equal.  Culture is a beautiful thing...it is also a terrible thing.  We have the power to make a change.

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_homosexuality

Reply to "Reality" Television....

I've had the same dilemma. While I don't like what reality TV shows present, I think I would still work for one. I don't want to be a screenwriter, so if I was working crew I would probably comfort myself by saying, "Well, they needed someone anyway.... I'm not really contributing to the problem." But that's the problem, isn't it? People need money, and they'll do what they have to to get by (or get what they want). That, besides the desire to be famous, has to be the reason the subjects of reality TV shows subject themselves to being filmed all the time. They've seen other reality TV shows. The cast of Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo Boo must know they won't be presented in the most favorable light. But they need the money. I think it's sad that people have to do that, both in front of and behind the camera, but that's how the world works I guess.

On other hand, I always assumed most if not all people understood what was really going on when they watched reality TV. I was surprised to learn from this class that that is not the case. I know the knowledge that reality TV is in no way reality didn't just come floating into my head by itself, but I can't remember where I learned it either. I've known it for so long now that it seems like the ever-present truth that everyone already knows. But sometimes I learn that other people don't actually know that yet, and I'm forced to think from a new perspective.

I wish the people on T.V. would stop talking to us

That title sounds crazy, I would like to clarify I don't hear voices that aren't there lol. So I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed what I am terming the “educated wink” I also considered calling it the “your too smart for this shit wink”, but that’s not all that catchy. The educated wink is when a commercial or TV show deviates from its expected role as passive or inert tools of social influence to directly engage the viewers. I first noticed the wink when watching Conon O’Brian for the first and “regrettably” only time.  O’Brian, can only be described, as obnoxious in his desire to reveal that his show was a complete fabricated representation of a late night TV show. His parody wasn’t so much a subtle nod to the production of televisual media as tool of social control as a violent shaking. The next time I notice the educated wink was in a Chap Stick commercial that started as a traditional commercial, in which an attractive Caucasian woman talked about how much she loved a particular brand of Chap Stick as she walked through a field of flowers. Then the commercial ended, and get this “the camera kept rolling” Boom!!! Mind blown. The attractive Caucasian woman now off camera picks up her backpack, yeah that right backpack, and turns to the camera that is no longer supposed to be there applies the Chap Stick and says something like “e. The action the advertisers were going for on the surface may have been something like, wait, she’s not actually acting… she really uses this chap stick… Oh My God she put it on off camera this is no joke, but some real life shit—No…… Freaking…. Way. I feel like a popular culture student wrote those scripts to say analyze this.

Facebook Pressure

 We spend our lives in a pressure cooker. We have to dress like this, talk like that, earn our diplomas before paying for degrees, we have to have the right friends and drive the right car to find the right job, and we have to marry Mr. or Mrs. Right. Furthermore living in this results driven culture-- we have to deliver. In fact some of us are stuck in the delivery rooms, we deliver at home, we deliver at school, we deliver at work, and we deliver to our friends, our family, and sometimes even ourselves. Because guys this isn’t life it’s Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and Google-- we’re all LinkedIn to snap chat and it’s a good day to be dumb but a bad day to be sloppy. You can have off days in real world, and guess what—no one has to know.  But in virtual world where we get to be the master of our reality we have to be perfect. Otherwise you’re that guy. What guy you say? The guy who sucks at life. One wrong step, and your Justin Beaver [sic], and then you might as well just end it all. Now that corporation are intruding on our sort of public yet definitely private relationships, Myspace has becomes our resume, our friends our references, our family our credibility, and our post no longer a depiction of free expression that makes no sense, but a portfolio of our brilliance. It like dude, I know you weren’t up reading Plato’s republic at 2:30 in the morning you stole that quote from Good Reads. That the thing about our virtual selves they’re not required to know stuff, they just have to brief well. This superficial knowledge seeps into our real world at the place where our embellished and unembellished lives meld. The next thing you know you’re discussing Egyptology with one of those face book friends that you secretly despise, but pretend to like because you know all the same people. And suddenly you realize you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about because you’ve only read the first 20 pages of the book. Awkward.  Worse on Facebook with a point of reference you were an expert smh.   

Reply to How Much is Your Life Worth?

*I couldn't figure out how to put the label on the comment, so I'm reposting my reply here.*

“Most would say [life is] priceless yet we are constantly putting a price on it.” I totally agree with you here. People are always worrying about how other people are spending their time and whether they're doing it the “right” way, while not considering that everyone is different. What is valuable to one person may not be valuable to another. Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

But since value is arbitrary, who’s to say what it is? I would say every individual. There will always be social contexts to base one’s judgment on, and those can definitely come in handy. Everyone wants to feel accepted in his or her society, and if people have to conform to some standards to be accepted, so be it. But it’s dangerous when people conform so much that they lose their true sense of self. And that’s why I argue against the idea of one strict value on life and how to live it.

Of course it makes me sad when I think someone is wasting his or her time when he or she could be "living life to the fullest"--but why do I get to say how that person should live his or her life? I don’t, so I shouldn’t try. The people I’m disagreeing with may very well feel they are living their lives to the fullest. I think it's an interesting thing to think about. And I also think it's important, because once people realize that everyone views life in their own terms, they become less judgmental. It’s hard to judge someone once you think of him or her as having equal rights as you. And we each know WE should be allowed to make our own decisions about what to do with our lives! Why not apply that idea to others? Amazing things could happen if everyone got to that place.

11:55 - Reflection on Hipsters

I cannot start this post without letting out the biggest possible sigh. This topic is the dead horse that has been beat by so many comedians and satire specialists and just normal people that it is almost not worth covering. However I believe that as over the top as hipsters may be, without them, culture would be stagnant. I like the thought of cool hunters and these people that create culture because it is so far out of my realm of thought it isn't even funny. Hipsters to me are just like inventors. It has just gotten to the point that these people are combining culture in ways that I have never even thought about before. I am hesitant to believe anything they have to say but still will hang on every word.