COMM 322: Final Project: The Effect of Video Games and Women in the Military

Matt Miller is the only one who i could not find the Label for so i just put his name in

An Escape From Reality

College is an amazing experience, but the stress that comes with it can be overwhelming at certain points.  Sometimes, people look for a way to escape the stressful reality that could be finals, projects, and crunch time blogging.  For me, video games is that escape from reality.  I really do not play first-person shooters, like Call Of Duty, Battlefield, or Halo.  I play games like FIFA 14 and 2K 14.... And, of course, Grand Theft Auto IV.  My favorite aspect about FIFA and 2K is that you can create and manage your own player.  You can decide how fast, and how strong your virtual athlete is.  You can decide what team he plays for and arrange your players contract.  You can even go as far as picking out a pre and post game outfit.  It is almost as if you are living the life of a superstar.  In reality, I’m just a broke college student working for the weekend, but for an hour or so, I can become the all-star point guard for the Boston Celtics, who makes over fourteen million dollars a year.  Now, who would not want to escape to that seemingly perfect world of stardom? Now, when It comes to GTA, it is a great way to let out some aggression.  Would I actually carjack an exotic sports car, and drive around beating up strippers for their money? No. But, in the world of Grand Theft Auto, the world is yours for the taking, and you can do just about anything that comes to your mind.  We all want to escape reality in some way, and going to a world where you can be an NBA superstar, or an individual who lives in a city where almost anything goes, can sound very appealing.  Especially when life gets stressful. 

Geeks Versus Hipsters

Before we discussed “Geek” and “Hipster” culture, it was somewhat difficult for me to distinguish the differences, after that class discussion I did some further research on the matter and found out some key differences between these two subcultures. Geeks are mostly obsessive individuals who are interested in computers, video games, and most of all, science fiction.  Fashion wise, we associate those large-framed glasses with geek culture.  Hipsters on the other hand, are mostly dismissive.  They sort through the different areas of pop culture, and find what is appealing or “cool”.  By appealing I mean, quirky.  It is almost as though geeks embrace, and hipsters dismiss.  When the term “hipster” comes to mind, I think of a snobbish individual wearing skinny jeans, sipping a craft beer, listening to Bon Iver. Although, this may not be true of all “hipsters,” it is difficult not to indulge in these hipster-hating stereotypes.  We all enjoy them.  The hipster culture is almost an epidemic.  I can’t help but laugh whenever I see the NBA post-game interviews.  The players come out wearing the big-framed, nonprescription glasses along with a number of other accessories.  It’s quite interesting, because though big-framed glasses were only associated with geeks for the longest period of time, until recently.  My question to self-proclaimed hipsters... You sift through all of the detritus of pop culture, and you pick those glasses? C’mon, man.  I believe that the “geek” culture will be here to stay, as for “hipster” culture, it will come and go, just like any other fad.  

Parasocial Relationships

The international asshole, the self-proclaimed god, who else would I be talking about besides Kanye West?  I have been a Yeezy fan ever since he stepped onto the music seen.  As a matter of fact ‘The College Dropout’ was the first hip-hop album I had ever purchased.  I am actually listening to his most recent album, ‘Yeezus,’ as I am writing this blog.  I think that it is safe to say, that I have a parasocial relationship with Kanye West.  I am borderline obsessed with his music, and I consider him a creative genius.  I have four of his six studio albums on vinyl, and have attended several of his shows.  I am always constantly checking on Twitter to find the latest news on Mr. West.  I always respected the passion the depth that he has put into his craft over the years that he has been in the music industry.  My roommates always give me a difficult time, and always ask me questions such as, “how can you support an artist who is such a narcissistic prick?”  I always respond with one answer, “because his music is perfect.”  I am always quick to jump into an argument about who is the better musical artist, it is almost like I am standing up for a good friend of mine.  But, at the end of the day, I am just another Kanye West aficionado.  Although, it is probably not the healthiest thing for me to have a parasocial relationship with someone who may have the worst moral character on the planet, but this parasocial relationship as brought me much enjoyment through his music.  

Twitter... A Love / Hate Relationship

I have a love / hate relation with Twitter.  I love the fact that that you have so many resources at your disposal.  By just typing a hashtag before the topic that you want to search, you can find so many different links to the specific topic that you searched.  I can really appreciate the professors who are utilizing Twitter in the classroom.  Many professors go on tangents about their students being on Twitter during class, but instead, tapping into our tech-savviness is really benefitting the classroom.  This is not the only class that Twitter is used.  It is extremely helpful to have all of your classmates’ thoughts and ideas at your disposal.  It is a great way to compare your own thoughts and ideas to your classmates.  I think that this is a great direction that most professors are taking.  It is definitely a step in the right direction, in my opinion.  Twitter is also an excellent way to stay on top of whats going on in the world, as well as current events.  What I typically use it for is to find the latest music that my favorite artists have released.  It is also a great way for sports fanatics to be informed with what is going on with their favorite teams.  There are many upsides to Twitter, but there are many downsides as well.  For example, the improper use of the hashtag, like we discussed in class, the proper use of the hashtag is vital for not annoying your followers or even losing them.  Passive aggressive tweeting, or more commonly known as “subtweeting,” must also be avoided, if you want to be considered a good tweeter. 

Sports / Politics / War

I found the video that we watched on Monday absolutely fascinating.  I had no idea just how political our nation’s sports organizations were! Especially the NFL.  The interesting part of this to me is that the coaches and the players have absolutely nothing to do with the politics that go on behind the scenes.  They actually have little to no control, unless you are a “franchise player,” then you might pull a little weight.  I always had an idea that there was someone pulling the strings behind these professional sports organizations, but this video that we watched on Monday, really solidified this idea for me.  The perfect example of this scenario, was the integrating of militarism in the NFL.  The video displayed a scene from Fox’s NFL pregame show, and all of the anchors were dressed head-to-toe in camouflage.  Although, this is a great recruitment strategy for our various military branches, it is still manipulation.  We learned earlier in class that our military uses various forms of simulations to recruit our nation’s youth.  The “Citizen Soldier” is a great example.  I have just come to terms with that we will always be exposed to war, whether that be in video game, or sports.  It is quite difficult watch any NFL game nowadays, without seeing a commercial with the phrase, “the NFL supports (insert branch of military).”  This is probably because so many people associate the NFL with this this war idea.  They definitely correlate.  It is is that whole macho, manly idea that the most manliest men either play sports or apart of the military.  Anyway, this video really shed a lot of light on a really pressing issue.