FINAL BLOG!!!! (:

             Honestly, I feel like this course taught me a lot more than my other classes when it comes to really analyzing literature and finding the true meaning in different books, movies and poems. In the beginning of the course I felt as if the material somewhat nitpicked our generation and for some reason I started out completely disagreeing with everything we read. Culture Jam and Mark Bauerlein seriously pissed me off because everything that was said was incredibly one sided and lacked any relation to what actually happens in my life. Because I could not relate to the statistics and comments made, I had no desire to even engage in conversation about it. As time went on and the material started to change into having an actual story line, I started to relate what Culture Jam and Bauerlein were saying to the books we were reading. I actually found it amazing how everything we read or watched somehow related to everything else we did throughout the course.

                I think that the main ideas that I am taking from this class are the ideas from Thoreau. I feel that society influences a lot in my life. I still think that I am an individual and I have will power to not go along with everything someone tells me to do, but I am greatly influenced by the media. The way I sometimes dress or do my hair is the outcome of watching someone famous wear to do the same thing with their hair. Even sayings that famous people speak such as the Kardashians always saying “bible” on something they swear on, has rubbed off on me. I have someone recognized how important it is to stay true to yourself and not lose those things that make us individuals. I think that it is really important to analyze your life rather than criticizing other people and the way they chose to live. Happiness is so important and I think a lot of us don’t even really know what makes us truly happy. If society didn’t tell us that certain things are good, would we really think they are?

                Overall I had a really good experience in this class. I loved our group and I really enjoyed how well we discussed every topic. I always left class knowing a lot more about the material then I did when I came in because we worked so well with discussing everything. Speaking of happiness, I am truly happy this is my last blog!  (:

Hunger Games/American Idol

I really liked the comparasion of American Idol and The Hunger Games that we discussed in class this week. It is strange to think that a show as innocent as American Idol has any type of relation to something as brutal as the Hunger Games. In both you have contestants and people who control your fate. On American Idol, you have the contestants, battling out the competition by singing and trying to convince America that they are worthy of being the winner. In the Hunger Games, you have contestants who are battling through acts of violence to eliminate their competition while also winning over the crowd. In the beginning of both shows, you can see innocence among the contestants. They are unique and come from completely different backgrounds. Throughout the course of the show you can see their appearance and sometimes even there humbleness change. Depending on what genre the contestants in American Idol belong to, their clothing changes. The country singers slowly progress into wearing flannels, holey jeans, cowboy hats, or southern bell outfits. The rockers begin to wear leather for every performance. During the Hunger Games, Cinna and the other prep team members changed the appearance of Katniss so that she would win over the people of the different districts.

                Another thing that relates directly to both American Idol and the Hunger Games is that the contestant’s fate is completely in the hands of the people being entertained by the show. You vote for your favorite singer and you sponsor your favorite tribute. Your interest in the individual is what keeps them in the competition, and alive.

REALity.

This video does not relate directly to the episode that I discuss in this blog. This is a trailer to the reality show that I have chosen to write about.

For my hour of reality television I chose to watch MTV’s hit show, “The Real World”. The shows main focus is on a group of diverse strangers that a chosen to live together for several months in a different city. Cameras record anything and everything that goes on with the cast over the 3 months that they reside in San Diego. MTV’s official “Real World” site states, “The diverse group includes a Zimbabwean Gymnast, a Professional Football Player, a Nuclear Engineer, a Drag King, a Model, a Bisexual Recent Graduate, and a San Diego Native who, as the youngest in the house, may have something to teach her roommates yet”.  Through reading this description I think that anyone could be convinced to watch the show. The particular episode that I watched was called “Pride and Prejudice”. It is a little ironic that a highly respected piece of literature by Jane Austen has the same title as a television show that airs late a night so children won’t accidentally get caught up in the “trashier” scenes.

                I usually don’t get too wrapped up in reality shows such as this, but this particular season has actually been more interesting in a positive way. The issues that are addressed throughout the season are real life issues that are being discussed in society. The two major issues dealt with on the show are eliminating the prejudices of homosexuality, and suicide prevention. The Bisexual Recent Graduate aka Frank, and the Drag King aka Sam are two of the individuals who are fighting to eliminate the discrimination that people have on the homosexual population. The Nuclear Engineer, Nate addressed the issue of suicide prevention by doing charity work.

                I am not saying that reality television is in anyway inspiring, but there are some issues addressed on certain shows that have positive aspects to them. Reality television is so entertaining because we believe that the people on these shows are just like us. We find it fascinating to think that that could be us on the television. I feel that our role as the viewers is to encourage the cast members to act as if people are watching. Although no one seems to act reserved on the shows, they know we are watching. It makes their actions seem a million times better or worse because they are willing to act a certain way knowing that all of American can see.

                We influence the games because we participate and encourage the players. The people on some reality shows are not actors and actresses. They are real people from towns just like ours who finally got a chance at fame. It is their decision once on the show if they are going to act as a positive influence or negative influence.

Big Brother

       Big Brother, although we never see him in the novel, is the leader of Oceania, and the follower of the Party. Throughout the novel Big Brother appears on posters, coins, and on different broadcasts. The reoccuring saying of "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU", constantly haunts the main character, Winston. Big Brother is a figure that represents power and control over the people of Oceania and is a constant reminder that they are always being watched over and everything they do is monitored. It forces the people of Oceania to obey the rules of the Party at all times. Their freedom and individualism is completely striped from them.
      I feel like Big Brother exists in some ways in our society, but definitely not as severe as the novel depicts. Our lives are somewhat controlled by different things. There are a lot of different rules and regulations that we have to follow in order to complete a task in the proper manner. If you step outside the guidelines, occassionally the outcome could be somewhat severe. Paperwork for insurance, employment, education, and for even the doctor's office is so indepth that I feel like it is a little overboard. I know that in some situations the amount of information we have to provide is necessary, but in other situations there is no reason to give away that much information about someone. For example, I recently applied for a job where they needed my license, social security card, and a voided check in order to have my paycheck directly deposited into my account. I thought it was a good way of dealing with my paycheck, but that was the only option for pay. They didn't even give other employees the option of actually receiving a check. I thought that that was a little to much to ask for. Maybe someone doesn't want that information given to a workplace before they are even hired. They took a copy of all three of those things and, surprise surprise, they lost the copy. To me, our privacy is also being taken away. I chose to give the place my information but I was under the impression that all of that information would be safe. Who knows who now has a copy of all that information.
    That was a very specific example, but there are other cases where our privacy is taken away and we are being controlled to do something that is unnecessary at the time. Going back to the novel there is absolutely no way I would feel comfortable living in their society. Being able to tap into phone conversations is one thing, but to constantly have your life monitored is absurd. Social lines have been crossed over way too far and there is no way possible that I would ever agree to the lifestyle that the people in the novel would have to obey. I feel 100 times safer in the world I am in now with semi-privacy and control then to live in a time where the government controlled my every move. Obviously, after reading the novel it is crystal clear that the government and the law are not always positive aspects of a society.

Living deliberately with an infinite expectation of the dawn.

“We must learn to reawaked and keep ourselves awake, not my mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact tan the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. “

This is an excerpt from the reading of David Thoreau that we discussed in class on Tuesday. Our class focused a lot our discussion on the idea of living every second of the day deliberately. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we eat if we really aren’t hungry? Why do we talk, if we have nothing important or intelligent to say? Why do we shower if in a larger scale, we aren’t that dirty? After reading the excerpt I thought these questions to myself. We all do these things without even thinking why. Generally we eat around lunchtime and dinnertime. Our mind tells us what time it is before it tells us if we are hungry or not. Thinking about my life, I really don’t know what I do deliberately. I do homework because my teachers tell me to. I work because there are things that I have a desire for and I want money. I do a lot of things in life because I am told to and because it is the “norm”, but in reality I have no actual desire to do those things at all.

                The quote in the beginning of this blog signifies, to me, the importance of embracing life. I feel like I wake up dreading the day ahead of me. Falling asleep at night I plan my day and what I HAVE to do and at what time. There is a major stress factor in all of that. I wish I could go to sleep at night peacefully, no thoughts racing through my mind, and be able to wake up in the morning with no expectations of others.

                If I wasn’t in school and I didn’t have to get a job and a degree, I would want to take this opportunity, not challenge, to live at peace with myself in the woods. It would be very hard to get used to. Boredom and emptiness would definitely be challenging obstacles, but in the end I feel like the experience overall would be refreshing. I feel like I lose myself quite frequently in today’s society. I don’t know why I wear certain make up certain ways, buy clothing or imitations of clothes worn by celebrities, or act a certain way. Living in solitude, I would have to inspiration other than my own thoughts. I would learn more about myself than I ever could, living in today’s world. I would form my own opinions on things with no input from others. I would find my own beauty in things without society telling me that a certain thing is more beautiful than others. I would develop a true sense of self that I wouldn’t be able to while dealing with the influence of others.

                I think the key take home point of all of these authors is generally the same and that is that we need to find a balance in our lives between nature and technology. Lasn focused a lot of detachment from nature, and how we can’t live without technology. Our society would have a lot of trouble living without technology, but imagine the stress that would be taken away if those negative aspects of technology did not exist.  

Mark Bauerlein: Lazy, ignorant, and generalized.

"... but we suspect that if young people don’t know the Bill of Rights or the import of old COLORED ENTRANCE SIGNS-- and they should-- it reflects not stupidity but a failure of the school system and of society (which is run by grown-ups) to require them to know it.” Sharon Begley stated this in response to Bauerlein’s book that completely disrespects and insults anyone under 30 years of age. Because of an answer on a test and because of lack of knowledge of some individuals in our generation we have all been deemed with the label of stupid, lazy and ignorant. I beg to differ.
The quote above sums up my opinions on this topic. It is understandable that people would be shocked to hear how ignorant some of our generation is when it comes to politics, history, literature and other important subjects in our school’s institutions. But then again, can we be blamed for our ignorance? When we come out of the womb are we suppose to have all of this knowledge stored in our brains? Obviously that is not how it is suppose to happen. We learn from experience and from our teachers. When I say teachers I am referring to any person who’s contributions to our life have made an impact on the way we think and who we have considered to be role models. Parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers, and anyone else who’s social role ranks above us impacts our lives every single day. We learn from these people. How are we suppose to know the answer to those questions asked by Jay Leno if no one in our lives has cared to inform us about them. I am not saying that our teachers are the direct problem for every single person’s lack of knowledge. There are some individuals out there who honestly have no intentions of learning things other than what they want to know. But there are people, like myself, who are open to learning about things in history, art, and literature. I am a biology major, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t find appreciation in other subjects. For those people who want to learn and want to be a part the intellectual society, the teachers have to help them along the way. Or you know, there is always Google.
Oh, but wait, the second anyone from our generation logs on to the internet there is a stereotypical guarantee that we are doing so to socialize. I feel like I have to apologize to Mark Bauerlein because I have a social life and I utilize the new resources in technology to maintain that social life. For those people open to learning, look at the history on their computer. There is more there than social networking sites. I am so sorry that the older generation created a way of easy access to information so we don’t have to go to the library and flip through books. It is all conveniently accessible through my computer.
I can’t tell you how many times a day I see someone from an older generation acting like they know EVERYTHING, when in reality, half of things they say make absolutely no sense. I hear students correcting professors every single day. My parents haven’t been able to help me with my school work since I left 7^th grade. My grandparents are in awe about how much information my cousins and I are capable of retaining. Yeah, there is very big chunk of our generation that can be classified as stupid. Life is more than just about facts in books. There are a lot of people out there who could tell you any fact in the world but have absolutely no street smarts. The knowledge is there, but the common sense is lacking. Stupidity can not be based off of an incorrect answer a percentage of our generation circled on a test. Bauerlein needs to wake up and smell the flower and realize that there is a world of information out there where certain things are deemed important based on each individual. Some of that information is important to one person, and might not really affect the other, but those others have a fact about something else that other people don’t know and the cycle goes on and on.

Relationships with Reality.....or Creepers.

Usually when checking into cyberspace, my first stop is Facebook. Here, I can interact with my friends and family quickly and easily. I can choose to flip through their pictures, write to them publically, or chat them threw a private box. I see absolutely no harm in this because these people I choose to communicate with already know who I am. They know my personality and what I really look like. Then a little red notification appears in the left hand corner of the webpage under the friend request tab. I see a grown man who I have never seen before in my life requesting to be my “facebook friend”. Having good judgment and common sense I hit deny and move on with my life.

                This is where a lot of people turn cyberspace into risky business. Fortunately I don’t consider myself one of those people because I choose to talk to only people I know. A lot of people out there think that cyberspace is a great way to meet people: WRONG! Yeah, it could be an excellent way to form a relationship with someone, but in reality you know nothing about that person. They could be nothing of who they say they are. It would be incredibly simple for me to put a picture of a 110 pound tan brunette female as a profile on Facebook with a different name and probably get the attention of a lot of desperate males out there. It is not hard to do, but it is really simple to stay away from the dangers of cyberspace.

                When it comes to the gamers on World of Warcraft I was appalled by what I was seeing. Luckily in this documentary these people were talking and forming relationships with others who had the same intentions. Heather and Kevin were the two individuals that really stuck out to me in the video. Yes, they communicated multiple times and multiple ways before arranging a face to face visit but in reality did she really know him? He could have manipulated her into thinking he was one person and when she flew to meet him in person he could have been a serial killer. I understand that I am saying the worst of the worst right now but these are things that go through my mind and I don’t understand why other people aren’t thinking the same thing.

                The question on the sheet that stood out to me the most so far (only after viewing the first half of the video) is, “Can ‘virtual’ relationships operate in the “real world?” My answer is very mixed but it leans further toward no. You can think that you are getting to know someone so well through the computer, a headset, a phone, and email but honestly that could all be a lie. The worst part about all these “what ifs” about cyberspace is, we have to question everything. We as a culture cannot avoid this new technological addiction. Culture is a learned set of beliefs, values, norms, and material goods shared by a group of people. We learn to operate through the real world and the virtual word. Our generation communicates both ways and it was gradually brought upon us by our society. The definition of a society is people who live in a specific geographic territory, interact with one another, and share many elements of a common culture. If we don’t interact through cyberspace like the rest of our society we become less of a part of it. I’m not saying that that is right in anyway but that is the reality of our situation. This is the new way of communication and we are bound to be connected by it. It takes will power and common sense to judge who we communicate with and if what we are engaging in is dangerous to our own well being.