For the blog this week I chose to listen to four songs that would be categorized as ‘pop’ music. You can usually find me listening to country or folk or some sort music that wouldn’t be found on popular radio stations. I went on iTunes and found the top four songs on the pop charts and went from there.
The music categorized as ‘pop’ differs greatly from the country music I normally listen to. While country music tends to tell some sort of a story I feel like pop music could sing about absolutely nothing as long as it has a catchy beat. Adorno says that people who listen to popular music are childish, and are likely to distraction and inattention. In my opinion you cant pay close attention to the lyrics of pop music or you will disappointed in how dumb some of the lyrics may be.
Country music talks about love a lot, maybe too much sometimes. But the songs tend to be focused on getting over break ups or actual true love songs. I feel like listeners can easily relate. Pop music tends to focus on the physical aspects of love, if you catch my drift. Not as many listeners can relate to ‘making love in the club’ as they can to having their heart broken or something of the sort. Pop music also doesn’t seem to sing about family very much. I didn’t find a single song that had family as the focus. Country music doesn’t sing as much about family as it does about love, but a lot of the lyrics include family and family values.
Country and Pop also differ when talking about play. In country terms, playing is going fishing and riding tractors and playing in the dirt. Pop music defines playing as dancing and singing and clubbing. I think that the differences in the lyrics of country and pop are based on the values that the writers and singers have. Each genre portrays a different lifestyle and relates with different groups of people. Pop music to me would be categorized as popular music because it fills the air on numerous radio stations. Adorno also talks about the standardization of music, which makes listeners think they are listening to something new and different when in reality its all the same. To me, that completely defines pop music. All the lyrics are similar and all the beats are similar, there is always just a small difference in the tune or how the beat goes that makes people think the songs are different. I’ll stick to my country music.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Reality Television
Reality shows are everywhere. Every channel, whether it’s MTV or TLC has some sort of reality show because America is addicted to them. Most of the reality shows playing, or at least the most successful ones are dedicated to showing people at their worst. Real World, Bad Girls Club, and others showcase individuals who do stupid things while intoxicated. So why do we love to watch worthless television so much?
Fiske’s definition of carnival is exactly what reality shows are. “Characterized by laughter, bad taste, and offensiveness and degradation”, an exaggeration, “a second world and second life outside officialdom”. The most prominent reality shows are degrading, offensive, filled with individuals who define bad taste, and on most accounts the viewers are able to laugh at them. Each reality show that I have watched with in the past week (Bad Girls Club, The Bachelor, John and Kate Plus Eight, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Girls Next Door, Deadliest Catch, the list could go on and on) embodies a different form of carnival. I would say Bad Girls Club (a show about six ‘bitches’ who live together and fight) is a billingsgate. It is a vulgar terrible show that makes you feel like a saint when you watch it.
Most the time after watching a ridiculous episode of some reality show I try and find a justification for putting myself through that. Most of the justifications are how good you can feel about yourself when you are done with it. I think a lot of reality shows have this effect. Your life seems ten times more normal and sane compared to the trash we can watch on tv. You can either feel better about how kind you are compared to a bunch of bitches, or feel like you have a better chance at finding love then girls competing on a show, or be thankful you don’t have eight children. Reality shows find their niche in showing something out of the ordinary, something that not everyone can do or be or are used to.
The spectacle that is provided varies with the show. John and Kate Plus Eight is about John and Kate who have a set of twins and then a set of sextuplets. While nothing vulgar or degrading happens on the show, people can find relief in the fact they don’t have eight kids. I think a show like this has morals and values that you can take from an episode. It shows that two people can be in love and make it work even though they are constantly struggling with dealing with eight kids. The spectacle of the Bad Girls Club does the opposite. You don’t find morals and values on a show where girls just get drunk and fight. I think these girls use their bodies as a site of struggle more than others. They are voted on the show because they are known bitches, so they have to act up to a certain expectation. Maybe they want to change and get better and learn self control, but the show probably makes them want to act out more strongly against this idea. Reality shows pounce on individuals who are struggling and make money off of their imperfections.
Reality television is on every channel. Despite how degrading or ridiculous each show might be, we all still watch. Reality tv becomes an addiction. Turning it on just makes you feel that much better about yourself.
Fiske’s definition of carnival is exactly what reality shows are. “Characterized by laughter, bad taste, and offensiveness and degradation”, an exaggeration, “a second world and second life outside officialdom”. The most prominent reality shows are degrading, offensive, filled with individuals who define bad taste, and on most accounts the viewers are able to laugh at them. Each reality show that I have watched with in the past week (Bad Girls Club, The Bachelor, John and Kate Plus Eight, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Girls Next Door, Deadliest Catch, the list could go on and on) embodies a different form of carnival. I would say Bad Girls Club (a show about six ‘bitches’ who live together and fight) is a billingsgate. It is a vulgar terrible show that makes you feel like a saint when you watch it.
Most the time after watching a ridiculous episode of some reality show I try and find a justification for putting myself through that. Most of the justifications are how good you can feel about yourself when you are done with it. I think a lot of reality shows have this effect. Your life seems ten times more normal and sane compared to the trash we can watch on tv. You can either feel better about how kind you are compared to a bunch of bitches, or feel like you have a better chance at finding love then girls competing on a show, or be thankful you don’t have eight children. Reality shows find their niche in showing something out of the ordinary, something that not everyone can do or be or are used to.
The spectacle that is provided varies with the show. John and Kate Plus Eight is about John and Kate who have a set of twins and then a set of sextuplets. While nothing vulgar or degrading happens on the show, people can find relief in the fact they don’t have eight kids. I think a show like this has morals and values that you can take from an episode. It shows that two people can be in love and make it work even though they are constantly struggling with dealing with eight kids. The spectacle of the Bad Girls Club does the opposite. You don’t find morals and values on a show where girls just get drunk and fight. I think these girls use their bodies as a site of struggle more than others. They are voted on the show because they are known bitches, so they have to act up to a certain expectation. Maybe they want to change and get better and learn self control, but the show probably makes them want to act out more strongly against this idea. Reality shows pounce on individuals who are struggling and make money off of their imperfections.
Reality television is on every channel. Despite how degrading or ridiculous each show might be, we all still watch. Reality tv becomes an addiction. Turning it on just makes you feel that much better about yourself.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Pop Culture across Generations
These interviews found to be a lot more challenging than imagined. Both my father and my grandmother had a hard time remembering things that they would consider popular. They said that the times have changed so much its hard to place different cultures with different time periods.
For the first generation (35-60) I chose to interview my dad. If he were 22 the year would be 1976 and according to him “I wasn’t really into that whole pop culture stuff”. I think this was just an excuse for his bad memory. But things he mentioned remembering from the 1970’s that he would consider popular included the punk fashion style. He said he never understood what those kids were thinking dressing like that, but he remembers how big of a deal it was. A movie that stood out to him was the movie Rocky. Music he can think back to included Queen and Paul McCartney.
The second generation (61+) I interviewed my grandma. If she were my age she would have been in the 1940s. The first thing that stood out to her was WWII. She said in this time young adults were dealing with the depression and the wake of the war. She stated that a lot of people her age were seeking for an outlet to escape reality. Things that they turned to were music and television. Music included Big Bands and jazz, including swing dancing and night clubs. Its too strange for me to imagine my little old grandma at a night club swing dancing. She also said that this was when radio was really big and that’s how people found out about the war if they couldn’t go to the movies. A person she said stands out in her mind as a 1940s pop culture symbol would be Bob Hope.
My dad was really not a lot of help as to teaching me about the pop culture of the 70s. My grandma on the other hand taught me a lot. I think that music and dancing and movies were a big part of the 40s because of what she said, young adults looking to escape the reality of the depression. Swing dancing can definitely take your mind off of what is really going on. I think that radio was really popular as well because of the war. Political leaders started using propaganda through the radio to get people to side with them on views of the war.
After conducting these interviews I began to think about what happens when I am 50. What will I remember from my 20s? I think that the pop culture of our generations are so much different but still have some of the same ideas throughout. There are young adults now trying to escape reality but they do it in different ways. Am I going to remember the rise and fall of Brittney Spears or will I remember the ipod? From this assignment I learned that pop culture can change very quickly and it is all relative to who is experiencing it. Different people can view different things as pop culture and those definitions of pop culture can be true to them.
For the first generation (35-60) I chose to interview my dad. If he were 22 the year would be 1976 and according to him “I wasn’t really into that whole pop culture stuff”. I think this was just an excuse for his bad memory. But things he mentioned remembering from the 1970’s that he would consider popular included the punk fashion style. He said he never understood what those kids were thinking dressing like that, but he remembers how big of a deal it was. A movie that stood out to him was the movie Rocky. Music he can think back to included Queen and Paul McCartney.
The second generation (61+) I interviewed my grandma. If she were my age she would have been in the 1940s. The first thing that stood out to her was WWII. She said in this time young adults were dealing with the depression and the wake of the war. She stated that a lot of people her age were seeking for an outlet to escape reality. Things that they turned to were music and television. Music included Big Bands and jazz, including swing dancing and night clubs. Its too strange for me to imagine my little old grandma at a night club swing dancing. She also said that this was when radio was really big and that’s how people found out about the war if they couldn’t go to the movies. A person she said stands out in her mind as a 1940s pop culture symbol would be Bob Hope.
My dad was really not a lot of help as to teaching me about the pop culture of the 70s. My grandma on the other hand taught me a lot. I think that music and dancing and movies were a big part of the 40s because of what she said, young adults looking to escape the reality of the depression. Swing dancing can definitely take your mind off of what is really going on. I think that radio was really popular as well because of the war. Political leaders started using propaganda through the radio to get people to side with them on views of the war.
After conducting these interviews I began to think about what happens when I am 50. What will I remember from my 20s? I think that the pop culture of our generations are so much different but still have some of the same ideas throughout. There are young adults now trying to escape reality but they do it in different ways. Am I going to remember the rise and fall of Brittney Spears or will I remember the ipod? From this assignment I learned that pop culture can change very quickly and it is all relative to who is experiencing it. Different people can view different things as pop culture and those definitions of pop culture can be true to them.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wants and Needs Blog
I knew that when we were first assigned the project of keeping track of all our expenditures that I wasn’t going to like what I saw. I mindlessly spend little amounts of money on little worthless things, a pack of gum here, parking meters there, picking stuff up for my roommates at the grocery store that I never get reimbursed for. By the end of my five days I realized I had spent way more money then I could have ever imagined. Which made me think, what could I be doing with all this extra cash I could be saving?
Then when I evaluated what I actually bought, I realized 90% of the things I purchased were complete wants. While I did buy groceries, and I needed food to survive, I could have probably lived off the things in my cupboards longer than I wanted too. I didn’t need to buy a Subway Sandwich, I had bread and meat and all the other toppings at home, I was just too lazy to do it myself. The only three purchases in my five days of keeping track that I could justify as needs were laundry soap and gas and text books. I consider these needs because they are essential to my daily life. If I didn’t buy gas I couldn’t drive to work therefore I couldn’t make money to pay for school and rent and food and essentially I would be on the streets. A couple of times when discussing this project with my roommates I tried to justify my wants to turn them into needs. I tried to explain that I absolutely needed to buy a cup of coffee because otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the day, and I couldn’t just make my own coffee at home because I was out of cream and without cream I cant drink my coffee. I was being ridiculous.
After analyzing what I decided my wants and needs are I began to try and relate it to popular culture. It is very much a part of our culture to buy a cup of overpriced coffee (trust me, I would know, I work at a coffee stand) and be seen with your cup. When students buy coffee before class, I believe they purposely would chose to buy a Starbucks or a Dutch Bros because the cup with have the logo on it which says they have extra cash to spend on frivolous things. So far we have learned that popular culture is the subordinates thriving off the dominant, rebelling against them and then creating their culture. As a poor starving college student I am a subordinate in this society, while the dominant are telling me I have to spend too much on text books and other things I don’t care to buy. I was going against the dominant (the OSU Bookstore) because I looked at prices at the bookstore and chose not to buy some of my books there because they were way too expensive. This was my chance to act against the dominant.
I think most of the time people aren’t conscious about their purchases. I now know that I could be saving a lot more money if I would keep track of things I spend on and cut down on wants and save for my needs. While there are times when I think popular culture affects what I buy and what I don’t buy, I don’t think I address these issues before actually making a purchase. Most of the time I just buy and consume and then move on.
Then when I evaluated what I actually bought, I realized 90% of the things I purchased were complete wants. While I did buy groceries, and I needed food to survive, I could have probably lived off the things in my cupboards longer than I wanted too. I didn’t need to buy a Subway Sandwich, I had bread and meat and all the other toppings at home, I was just too lazy to do it myself. The only three purchases in my five days of keeping track that I could justify as needs were laundry soap and gas and text books. I consider these needs because they are essential to my daily life. If I didn’t buy gas I couldn’t drive to work therefore I couldn’t make money to pay for school and rent and food and essentially I would be on the streets. A couple of times when discussing this project with my roommates I tried to justify my wants to turn them into needs. I tried to explain that I absolutely needed to buy a cup of coffee because otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the day, and I couldn’t just make my own coffee at home because I was out of cream and without cream I cant drink my coffee. I was being ridiculous.
After analyzing what I decided my wants and needs are I began to try and relate it to popular culture. It is very much a part of our culture to buy a cup of overpriced coffee (trust me, I would know, I work at a coffee stand) and be seen with your cup. When students buy coffee before class, I believe they purposely would chose to buy a Starbucks or a Dutch Bros because the cup with have the logo on it which says they have extra cash to spend on frivolous things. So far we have learned that popular culture is the subordinates thriving off the dominant, rebelling against them and then creating their culture. As a poor starving college student I am a subordinate in this society, while the dominant are telling me I have to spend too much on text books and other things I don’t care to buy. I was going against the dominant (the OSU Bookstore) because I looked at prices at the bookstore and chose not to buy some of my books there because they were way too expensive. This was my chance to act against the dominant.
I think most of the time people aren’t conscious about their purchases. I now know that I could be saving a lot more money if I would keep track of things I spend on and cut down on wants and save for my needs. While there are times when I think popular culture affects what I buy and what I don’t buy, I don’t think I address these issues before actually making a purchase. Most of the time I just buy and consume and then move on.
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