Pop culture and politics mix everywhere. Especially when politics are aimed at our age demographics, I feel like politics use pop culture to connect with us as a younger demographic.
The example I am using for this week is Oprah taking a stand for Obama and literally standing with him in Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. Oprah is an icon in todays celebrities. She is definitely one of the most recognizable talk show hosts of today.
So how does pop culture influence politics? This is a perfect example. Here we have someone who is a celebrity, crossing over into the political arena. When she makes it known that she is supporting Obama in the presidential race, she is hoping all her millions of viewers and supporters are going to agree with her. Oprah is a talk show hosts, who specializes in sappy stories that make us sit for an hour in front of our tv and cry. So what does she know about politics and why should I believe what she believes? She is just a pop culture icon, using her celebrity status to swing a vote.
Oprah made the decision to publicly announce that she was supporting Obama, and I don’t think she realized there could be repercussions. After she made that stand, her ratings dropped. Not everyone that watches her wants to vote democratic, and not wanting to support the democratic party, they can no longer support Oprah. Here is how politics crosses in to pop culture. Oprah’s shows didn’t change, she still had the same subjects and her topics didn’t become politically minded. But because she showed the world where she stands politically, she lost dedicated fans.
In our society it’s the unspoken rule that you don’t talk about two things to strangers, politics and religion. When either becomes the topic, you are bound to offend somebody by something you say. Everyone has their own opinions and everyone wants to be right about those. When a celebrity that is followed, I’d even argue idolized, takes a stand and goes from being an everyday talk show host to a political supporter, she is putting herself at risk. Nobody wants pop culture and politics to mix.
But as Fiske would argue, we need micropolitical changes to create macropolitcal changes. So it has to start somewhere. Someone has to take an individual stand to create change. In this example, Oprah uses her status as a pop culture icon to start somewhere, she is trying as an individual to make a change. While she may have lost some viewers, she probably has influenced many more to vote for Obama.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Clothing Blog
I was excited for this blog because we get to do one of my favorite things, people watch. I could sit and watch people for hours so this was a fun project. For my three locations to watch people at I chose Clods, Dutch Bros, and my church. Each location had extremely different people in different dress who were all acting in different ways.
The first location I went to was Dutch Bros. This seemed like a really casual place to go. Most people were dressed in jeans and t-shirts and seemed to be dressed for class. The majority of the individuals who walked in the door looked like students on their way to class. I was people watching in the morning and it was funny to watch people who looked like they just rolled out of bed and walked to get coffee. Those people tried to avoid eye contact with everyone. The people who were dressed and ready for the day seemed to be more talkative in line and willing to talk to the baristas.
The second location I went to was my church. This of course was a completely different vibe. Everyone at church was dressed nicely. No one showed up in sweat pants or a sweatshirt. Guys wore button up shirts and jeans or slacks and girls were mostly in dresses and skirts and heels. I think it goes without saying that it’s a known fact that people dress up when they go to church. Our culture says that’s what we are supposed to do and I couldn’t imagine what the reactions would be like if I came to church in my sweats. Everyone was very friendly to each other and everyone seemed to carry themselves with confidence. I think if someone would have showed up dressed outside of the norm they probably could have gotten some strange reactions out of others. Maybe not necessarily mean reactions, I think people would probably just wonder what that other was thinking.
The last location I went to was Clods. I went there on a Saturday night which is a pretty typical ‘going out’ night. The people here were dressed much differently then either other location I went to. Girls were all done up. Hair and make-up, sparkly revealing tops, and either short skirts, or tight jeans. And almost every girl was wearing heels; there may have been one or two girls not in heels. The guys were also done up. But in a different sort of way. They were wearing their typical t-shirt and jean combo but here they had their hair done and seemed to be more conscious of what matches what. Shirts looked ironed instead of pulled out of the dirty clothes pile. At a place like Clods on a Saturday night everyone is dressing to impress. Whether they are dressing to impress the opposite sex, or to out do their competition, they all seemed to be trying to make an impression by what they wore. This may be judgmental, but to me it seemed like the more scandalously a girl was dressed the harder she was trying to get some free drinks and flirt with guys. I think here more than any other place, what you wear results in how people treat you. I guarantee if I went to Clods looking like I do when I roll out of bed, and tried to talk to a bunch of people I would get ignored. On the other hand, if I spent hours getting ready and dressed a little more scandalously, I’d probably get more attention not only from males but from other girls too.
Our culture is so into clothing that everyone seems to be preoccupied with what they wear. What you wear expresses who you are and how others perceive you. When I show up to class in sweats I don’t want people to think I’m lazy and sloppy because I’m usually not, but that is the image I portray. What is popular to wear is chosen by pop culture. We see ads and hear music that tells us what looks good and what is the popular thing to do. When people don’t follow these underlying rules they aren’t viewed as highly as others that do. It seems like taking a stand against this would only hurt your image and how others view you. So my question is, knowing that pop culture affects what we wear and how we act towards others by what they wear, what can we do to make a difference about that?
The first location I went to was Dutch Bros. This seemed like a really casual place to go. Most people were dressed in jeans and t-shirts and seemed to be dressed for class. The majority of the individuals who walked in the door looked like students on their way to class. I was people watching in the morning and it was funny to watch people who looked like they just rolled out of bed and walked to get coffee. Those people tried to avoid eye contact with everyone. The people who were dressed and ready for the day seemed to be more talkative in line and willing to talk to the baristas.
The second location I went to was my church. This of course was a completely different vibe. Everyone at church was dressed nicely. No one showed up in sweat pants or a sweatshirt. Guys wore button up shirts and jeans or slacks and girls were mostly in dresses and skirts and heels. I think it goes without saying that it’s a known fact that people dress up when they go to church. Our culture says that’s what we are supposed to do and I couldn’t imagine what the reactions would be like if I came to church in my sweats. Everyone was very friendly to each other and everyone seemed to carry themselves with confidence. I think if someone would have showed up dressed outside of the norm they probably could have gotten some strange reactions out of others. Maybe not necessarily mean reactions, I think people would probably just wonder what that other was thinking.
The last location I went to was Clods. I went there on a Saturday night which is a pretty typical ‘going out’ night. The people here were dressed much differently then either other location I went to. Girls were all done up. Hair and make-up, sparkly revealing tops, and either short skirts, or tight jeans. And almost every girl was wearing heels; there may have been one or two girls not in heels. The guys were also done up. But in a different sort of way. They were wearing their typical t-shirt and jean combo but here they had their hair done and seemed to be more conscious of what matches what. Shirts looked ironed instead of pulled out of the dirty clothes pile. At a place like Clods on a Saturday night everyone is dressing to impress. Whether they are dressing to impress the opposite sex, or to out do their competition, they all seemed to be trying to make an impression by what they wore. This may be judgmental, but to me it seemed like the more scandalously a girl was dressed the harder she was trying to get some free drinks and flirt with guys. I think here more than any other place, what you wear results in how people treat you. I guarantee if I went to Clods looking like I do when I roll out of bed, and tried to talk to a bunch of people I would get ignored. On the other hand, if I spent hours getting ready and dressed a little more scandalously, I’d probably get more attention not only from males but from other girls too.
Our culture is so into clothing that everyone seems to be preoccupied with what they wear. What you wear expresses who you are and how others perceive you. When I show up to class in sweats I don’t want people to think I’m lazy and sloppy because I’m usually not, but that is the image I portray. What is popular to wear is chosen by pop culture. We see ads and hear music that tells us what looks good and what is the popular thing to do. When people don’t follow these underlying rules they aren’t viewed as highly as others that do. It seems like taking a stand against this would only hurt your image and how others view you. So my question is, knowing that pop culture affects what we wear and how we act towards others by what they wear, what can we do to make a difference about that?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Letter vs. Email
This week I chose to write to two different people that have had a big impact in my life. The first I chose to write a hand written letter to was my best friend from high school, and the second I wrote an email to was my brother.
In class everyone talked about how hard it was for them to write the hand written letter. I personally didn’t agree. I like writing notes and letters to people because it shows them that you care enough to take time out of your day thinking about them. Granted, it is more difficult to have to think about what you write before you write it because there is no delete button, I don’t think its any more difficult than writing an email. In each scenario I was making myself vulnerable by telling someone how much they mean to me when it was unexpected. Most people don’t write sentimental letters out of no where. While I wrote the email over a week ago I have not gotten a hand written response. My best friend called me and insisted we go to dinner to catch up. This is just how our culture is. We talked about the culture of cell phones in class and this lined up with it perfectly. Instead of sitting down and writing me a letter back that would take a few days to reach me, he called me because it was quicker and easier and would get the job done faster. Our culture wants it now and using a phone instead of writing a long letter fits right in with that.
After writing the hand written letter I sat down and wrote an email to my brother. This is our main form of communication anyways so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to send him an email. However, he was rather startled by what the email contained. I got this response “wow Anna, thanks I appreciate you too.” And that was the last of it. I’ve seen him since and he hasn’t said a word. My brother and I aren’t usually super vocal about how much we care about each other so he probably didn’t know what to do in that situation. This doesn’t bother me at all because I was completely expecting it. Our culture doesn’t encourage vulnerability, and I feel like its especially strict on males. Pop culture has created the strong, emotionless guy while the girl is able to show her emotions and its not thought about twice.
When writing my letters I was writing with a producerly like text. It could have been readerly because I was writing and who ever was reading should just accept what I say as true. But it could also be writerly because it challenges what they think and feel and they have to challenge their vulnerability. Because it is challenging but also must be accepted with a mind ready to accept it, it becomes a producerly text.
I’ve done this assignment two other times before and I think this is the first time I really thought about how pop culture affects even little things like how my friend called me instead of wrote me back. I would except him to do that but I never would have thought twice about why he would chose to do that. Its sad that we have a culture that is so based on time that people don’t even take time out of their days to tell the people that mean the most to them that they do.
In class everyone talked about how hard it was for them to write the hand written letter. I personally didn’t agree. I like writing notes and letters to people because it shows them that you care enough to take time out of your day thinking about them. Granted, it is more difficult to have to think about what you write before you write it because there is no delete button, I don’t think its any more difficult than writing an email. In each scenario I was making myself vulnerable by telling someone how much they mean to me when it was unexpected. Most people don’t write sentimental letters out of no where. While I wrote the email over a week ago I have not gotten a hand written response. My best friend called me and insisted we go to dinner to catch up. This is just how our culture is. We talked about the culture of cell phones in class and this lined up with it perfectly. Instead of sitting down and writing me a letter back that would take a few days to reach me, he called me because it was quicker and easier and would get the job done faster. Our culture wants it now and using a phone instead of writing a long letter fits right in with that.
After writing the hand written letter I sat down and wrote an email to my brother. This is our main form of communication anyways so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to send him an email. However, he was rather startled by what the email contained. I got this response “wow Anna, thanks I appreciate you too.” And that was the last of it. I’ve seen him since and he hasn’t said a word. My brother and I aren’t usually super vocal about how much we care about each other so he probably didn’t know what to do in that situation. This doesn’t bother me at all because I was completely expecting it. Our culture doesn’t encourage vulnerability, and I feel like its especially strict on males. Pop culture has created the strong, emotionless guy while the girl is able to show her emotions and its not thought about twice.
When writing my letters I was writing with a producerly like text. It could have been readerly because I was writing and who ever was reading should just accept what I say as true. But it could also be writerly because it challenges what they think and feel and they have to challenge their vulnerability. Because it is challenging but also must be accepted with a mind ready to accept it, it becomes a producerly text.
I’ve done this assignment two other times before and I think this is the first time I really thought about how pop culture affects even little things like how my friend called me instead of wrote me back. I would except him to do that but I never would have thought twice about why he would chose to do that. Its sad that we have a culture that is so based on time that people don’t even take time out of their days to tell the people that mean the most to them that they do.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Footloose
For this weeks blog we were asked to watch a movie from a different time period then movies of today. I chose to watch the movie Footloose. The basis of the story line is that a big city kid who loves dancing moves to a small town where music and dancing aren’t allowed. Despite the ban he continues to do what he loves.
The movie says a lot about the 80s culture. The 80s were a time of rebellion. Sexual things weren’t as socially acceptable as they are today, but going through the rebellion of the 80s put us at where we are today dealing with those issues. It was a time to break free from what was so rigid about society. This movie shows the culture of the 80s in the main character when he does what he loves no matter who says he cant. While dancing and music aren’t allowed, these two things could be substituted with any vice that an individual might have that wasn’t viewed as acceptable. The main girl in the movie is dating the popular jock and when she meets the rebellious main character she falls in love with him instead. This could relate to the culture of the 80s when people were trying to be different and no longer were trying to be the perfect cookie cutter individual. The head cheerleader falling for someone other than the best football player was seen as a faux paus and she was breaking free of that norm.
The movie was made at this time because it represented the struggle that individuals faced at that time. There was a struggle between being a goody goody and being someone who broke the mold and turned their back to the stiff morals that everyone was so accustomed to. Dancing and music could be interchanged with so many things, something like drugs or alcohol or even sex. Things that people enjoyed that society viewed as a negative. The movie allowed individuals to feel better about things they loved that they maybe shouldn’t have.
This movie also goes along with the reading in the book relating James Bond and structuralism. The structure of the movie follows every other popular type of movie story line. There is a good guy fighting against the bad guy and in the end he wins the girl. This movie puts itself in the pop culture arena because it follows those guide lines that everyone can relate to, a battle of good versus evil. It also embodies semiotics because it shows that so many things can stand for something different. Signs and words and language can stand for something so much more than it is. The battle to want to dance was more than just a kid wanting to dance in a little city.
The movie says a lot about the 80s culture. The 80s were a time of rebellion. Sexual things weren’t as socially acceptable as they are today, but going through the rebellion of the 80s put us at where we are today dealing with those issues. It was a time to break free from what was so rigid about society. This movie shows the culture of the 80s in the main character when he does what he loves no matter who says he cant. While dancing and music aren’t allowed, these two things could be substituted with any vice that an individual might have that wasn’t viewed as acceptable. The main girl in the movie is dating the popular jock and when she meets the rebellious main character she falls in love with him instead. This could relate to the culture of the 80s when people were trying to be different and no longer were trying to be the perfect cookie cutter individual. The head cheerleader falling for someone other than the best football player was seen as a faux paus and she was breaking free of that norm.
The movie was made at this time because it represented the struggle that individuals faced at that time. There was a struggle between being a goody goody and being someone who broke the mold and turned their back to the stiff morals that everyone was so accustomed to. Dancing and music could be interchanged with so many things, something like drugs or alcohol or even sex. Things that people enjoyed that society viewed as a negative. The movie allowed individuals to feel better about things they loved that they maybe shouldn’t have.
This movie also goes along with the reading in the book relating James Bond and structuralism. The structure of the movie follows every other popular type of movie story line. There is a good guy fighting against the bad guy and in the end he wins the girl. This movie puts itself in the pop culture arena because it follows those guide lines that everyone can relate to, a battle of good versus evil. It also embodies semiotics because it shows that so many things can stand for something different. Signs and words and language can stand for something so much more than it is. The battle to want to dance was more than just a kid wanting to dance in a little city.
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