This post is the first in (hopefully) a long line. I'm going to include some of the videos, articles, and ideas that I got over the past few weeks during the lectures. Hopefully, from here, I'll be making one post per week. I expect that most posts probably won't be nearly as lengthy as this one.
The first thing I found interesting was the discussion with regards to Facebook and other forms of electronic media. There's no denying that Facebook occupies an extremely important place, a niche in people's lives. I came across the following article not too long ago:
Their comments worry me, because they are fully aware of their misery, and they even know the source of the problem. They see a solution, yet they cannot see how they could possibly implement it. For them, quitting Facebook would be the equivalent of a social suicide. Yet, to do so could potentially spark a movement. The easiest solution to their problem is to simply stop Facebook, and to stop looking to others for their self-esteem. Sadly, they probably can't imagine a future (or life) without Facebook, the current dominant social network.
“I feel sad, depressed, jealous, or whatever when I don’t get a lot of “Likes” on my photo or when someone else gets way more Likes than me. Honestly, I’m not sure that parents realize how drastically it affects our self-image and confidence. If I see a picture of a really pretty girl, it’s like ‘Goodbye self-esteem.’ It forces me to compete and do stuff that I don’t want to do, so my confidence will get a boost.”
The above quote is the embodiment of everything that I find wrong with Facebook. I can see the benefits of using Facebook to keep in touch with people that I don't see in my daily life, and to organize events and get-togethers. With cases like these, however, Facebook has become a valid excuse to spend all of one's time online and still (be considered to) have a life.
A somewhat unrelated thought also crossed my mind while we were having this discussion. These days, individuality and non-conformity have, to some extent, become trendy. Paradoxically, in trying to set one's self apart from everyone else, we all end up being exactly alike. If I truly wanted to stick out, I would probably have a better chance by wearing a suit. It's strange that we all seem to have almost the exact same notion of what is non-conformist and despite the fact that many people conform to this ideal (emos, metalheads, etc), we continue to perceive it as non-conformist.
Finally, today's society has given us such terrifying things as:
- 9/11
While talking about 9/11, someone had said that it was amazing that we were still talking about 9/11, and fearing yet another terrorist attack. The only explanation is that we, as a society, are programmed to expect sequels. The bad guys NEVER die the first time.
Talking about the hierarchy of credibility brought to mind two things: first, a video in which a news station raves about Charlie Sheen and his shocking (and apparently novel/original) theories regarding what really happened on 9/11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roU_80YtmBE
They act as though Charlie Sheen is the first person to ever posit this idea that perhaps 9/11 was an inside job. Plenty of people have been saying so for years, and in fact, Sheen uses their words almost verbatim.
Kate mentioned Britney Spears, which immediately made me think of this South Park episode: http://xepisodes.com/south-park/season-12/episode-2-britneys-new-look/
At around the 16:20 mark (in the episode), there is a scene in which Britney Spears is sacrificed for the harvest. Afterward, they present another scene in which the people of South Park discover their next victim via the news, Miley Cyrus. It says a great deal about the way we worship celebrities, and how quickly we tear down our idols.
Celebrities are the gods of the 21st century.
- Rap music and gang violence
A few days ago, I found the following video, which exemplifies much of what the article said with regards to violence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET-BYx_V5EI
We must ask ourselves why it is that "higher culture" continues to be considered superior. After all, popular culture appeals to the vast majority of the population. Why then do we still place "higher culture" on a pedestal? The answer might lie in what I like to call "trickle-down ideology", which is similar in concept to trickle-down economics. Following the "dominant ideology" approach, we continue to feed off the dregs of ideology that trickle down from the elite through various cracks; each of these a different medium.
Lastly, I'd like to link a wikipedia article I ran across: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnepropetrovsk_maniacs. It's interesting to notice (if you aren't planning on reading much of it) that one theory states that these boys were contacted from outside the country by the (wealthy) owner of a website, and offered money to provide several snuff films.
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