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

I am a Hip-Hop Geek

According to what i learned during Caleb's speech was that geeks are people who are extremely passionate about what they do. Most geeks are strong in academics. However, geeks can be great at other things. You can be a geek at art, cooking, or even athletics. I'm no different because I consider myself a Hip-Hop geek. I'm that guy that can tell you everything about Hip-Hop. From its introduction to the world to it's international acceptance as a genre. I can tell you which artists made the greatest impact and I can break down concepts that artists intended for projects to convey. I love Hip-Hop so much because I grew up listening to it from a young age. I like R&B as well, but I don't consider myself a geek in that genre because I can't break it down as consistently as I can with Hip-Hop. I'm also a Hip-Hop geek because I've been writing music for over eight years and making music for about three years as an MC. I study the art of Hip-Hop by taking notes and observing the greats of the past and the new faces of the future. The Hip-Hop culture is my culture which means I eat, sleep, and breathe Hip-Hop.

Reality Check

The fact of the matter is this: Pop Culture should be more than just a class you take towards your major. This class not only breaks down the online rules of society, but also breaks down to injustices that most of us never pay attention to. This class taught me that even television is more powerful than reading books in this generation. Entertainment is longer limited to sitcoms due to modern commercials and reality TV. I don't watch TV as much as I used to but I still understand the concepts shown throughout this semester. Agendas are set to influence the culture and reach the younger generations that are watching television each and every day. They influence the way we eat, the way we communicate with other, the way we interpret how the world works, etc… I want everyone to understand that Pop Culture is more than just “Hot Topics”. It’s about the entertainment industry’s way of setting culture standards and how the world views various social topics. From feminism to homosexual activity, Pop Culture examines these topics and breaks down the importance of each one. At the end of the day, I’ve learned that Pop Culture is the world around me.

The Power Of Video Games

I remember playing "Mortal Kombat" on my Dad's Sega Genesis when I was young. I thought that the "Epic Win" was beating Shao Khan at the top of the ladder of "Kombatants". When I played NBA '98 or Madden '99 on my Uncle's Playstation, the "Epic Win" was championships or simply winning against him. When I got my first Xbox, I played Project Gotham, which is a racing game and the "Epic Win" was unlocking special Ferrari's and other exotic "Never Before Seen" cars. The main point of this is that I didn't take what I learned from the video games beyond the television. Honestly I slowed down on playing video games as i got older because my passion is in writing music as an artist. However, I have a younger brother that has kept me up to date with the video game world that he was born into back in '98. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have ever bought or played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or GTA 4 & 5. If it wasn't for my friends playing Halo or Call Of Duty, I would've probably never played it. When I look back at my childhood, I realize that I'm one of the few of my generation that disconnected from the video game movement due to my passion and love of making music. I believe that both Video Games & Music are equally influential to my generation and culture's way of thinking, living, and analyzing the world for what it is today.

Media's Effect on Reality

If you let TV tell the narrative, girls rule and boys drool. Media affects society through various generations by setting the standard of the “perfect” man or woman as well as who have control over various situations. The power of the media can be observed through Disney’s animated movies. For example, almost every Disney princess is in distress and needs a hero (Hercules, Snow White, Cinderella, etc…) to save them from an evil villain. If we were to flip the script, every man in America might have, at one point, thought that they could be a superhero (Batman, Iron Man, Superman, etc…). The entertainment industry feeds off of society’s imagination for profit. Bestseller book series become blockbuster action films due to our imaginations and dreams of the impossible. I believe that the entertainment industry targets the younger crowds because they are easy to influence. However, that doesn't mean that they don’t attempt to reach the adults through remaking childhood favorites. Whether it is horror films, reality TV, or comic book superheroes, Media’s effect on reality is always going to be important in any generation due to technology’s growth and different channels of access to today’s media outlets. If media has an agenda that is built to be carried out, the industry has little to no trouble with the task because of technology. I believe that every industry has its own politics. The entertainment industry is no different. From Jersey Shore to Captain America, people around the world are influenced and affected by the media.

What The Word "Gay" Means To Me

Over the past few weeks, our class has been discussing the T.V. culture and defining what it is in Pop Culture. From Ellen to Honey Boo Boo and so on. But the Gay topic has really taken off in culture during the last decade. Personally, I don't have any problem with the LGBT community or their beliefs. I have associates I know that are gay or lesbian and even best friends. I don't feel affected by their choices or decisions because I let people know my sexual orientation upfront and they let me know theirs as well. I don't like how society has tried their hardest to keep the LGBT community from being able to legally get married across different states within our country. It's not a secret anymore in 2013. People are not hiding in the closet as much anymore. As a heterosexual man I respect the honesty more because I don't want a woman that I'm with to hide her sexual interest from me. I believe that society was harming itself when people kept their sexual orientation a secret. Now that the world is slowly accepting same sex relationships, I see more people happy to be themselves and be honest with their partners than haters who want to stop their LGBT movement from worldwide acceptance.  At the end of the day, America was built on democracy and freedom of beliefs, so to try and take away gay rights would not only be unconstitutional, but simply unfair to people who deserve to be treated equally.