"Get A Life!"

In Henry Jenkins article, Trekkies or fans were stereotyped as "social misfits, unable to separate fantasy from reality, are desexualized, and are brainless consumers". I think the question is are these really stereotypes or are they real characteristics, not just what people think? Who gets to call these Trekkies social misfits or brainless consumers? Who is the one to judge? These Trekkies are only considered social misfits, because it strays away from the norm or mainstream America. There are many people out there that do not like what is different, therefore they give these "different" people bad names, like misfits. I honestly have never seen Star Trek, Star Wars, or even all the Harry Potter movies. It just is not my thing, but I am open to new things and would not be opposed to seeing the movies. I, like many people do tend to think these Trekkies may be weird just because they dress up like the characters or do anything and everything that relates to that specific movie. However, after Jenkins article and our discussions in class it really allowed me to think. Who am I to call these people weird? I may be considered weird to them, because I am obsessed with coffee or have to smell the perfumes anytime I go to the mall. The same idea goes for the stereotype of brainless consumers and desexualized. To be honest I do not think these are nice terms to use and obviously could be taken offensively. To make fun of person, because of a passion is hurtful. Who wants to be called brainless or less of a man or a woman because we are into something we really like? The stereotype, brainless consumer was such a controversial topic in our class. I do not quite understand why they would be considered brainless, because obviously they have a brain and most likely a really smart one at that. Just because these fans have to buy every shirt, movie, poster, or whatever it may be does not make them mindless consumers. They are spending their money and consuming things, what does it matter what they purchase? If a person wants to buy something they like then so be it. It is none of our business if it is their money and their life.

While browsing Youtube, I came across a video of a StarTrek fanatic (the link posted below). This young man, being the age of at least 20 had been a dier fan of Star Trek since the age of three. He has had many so called "commander" uniforms along with books, posters, and even a framed photo of one of the Star Trek characters, Spok and himself. His friends and even his mother did not realize how obsessed he was hence the taping to prove their point in his obsession. This Trekkie can relate to Jenkins articles, when discussing the stereotypes of a fan. He was obviously a fan, but what was really mind-bottling was the fact he seem to be in that stereoptype of not being able to separate fantasy from reality. The person taping him asks questions of the spacecraft, his uniform, and the character Spok. When he answered the questions he was so into and believed that Spok was real and he was the commander of the spacecraft. Maybe he was not being serious, but he looked serious to me. Another question that the video taper asked was if there were any cute girls on the spacecraft. The Trekkie just embarrasingly laughed it off. I could see where Jenkins was coming from when he referred to fans as being desexualized and unable to separate fantasy from reality.

Whether the stereotypes are true or not, it does not matter. People are going to live their life without people telling them what to do. They may have been considered "social misfits", but hey they found a niche and seem to be happy with it! I think it is great these people found a passion as long as they have their priorities in the right place and are not ruining their lives to this obsession. If it does not make them a worse person then yayy for Trekkies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5q4PTME-M

Flickr Project

I felt the Flickr Project was a great experience in terms of trying out new things. I had never used Flickr let alone known about Flickr till this project. I feel that I am a little sheltered when it comes to advanced or new technology, so I am glad I did this project. I feel that Flickr is a pretty basic tool that is easy to use after a bit of practice. The preparation for the project was easy for the most part. My group and I basically picked a place and storyline and everything was easy-going from there. I thought the project we did was a bit childish; like a child's story book. For example, See Spot run. See Spot eat....I kind of felt like that was going on; however I am sure Flickr can be used for more important, intense story lines such as the riots or bombing we saw in class. I think Flickr is a good tool that can be put into good use. Although right now it seems pretty boring or simple, it could definitely be used in a very moving way. Pictures without words can say a lot. Many people can translate a picture in many different ways. I remember a Drug class I was in, when we watched a video that reminded me of the use of Flickr. Before there was any dialogue, there were slide pictures shown that were really moving. These pictures were of people crying, 9/11, and school shootings. This use of Flickr made the topic more dramatic and very emotional, especially when music is involved. I think Flickr can be a good tool personally and publicly. If people have a lot of pictures they want to save, they can use Flickr to organize and have a place to hold their personal pictures. Also, if a person wanted to get their point across for a project with pictures, Flickr would be a good tool as well. Overall, I thought this project was beneficial. It allowed us to interact on a personal level instead of impersonally through twitter. Having a group project in person also allowed me to get to know some of my classmates, which is always a good thing. On top of those two things, learning the use of Flickr was a good introduction of a new technology for me. I feel like I learned something out of this project, whether I am an expert with Flickr or not. I honestly do not think I will use Flickr, because I do not have a camera right now, but it is great that I know about it if I ever needed to use it for future purposes.

http://tinyurl.com/357yhq

Photoshop for Democracy

Pop Culture is how to describe our culture today. It is a culture filled with the influence of the media and the internet. The article, Photoshop for Democracy is a great article that allows us to see the influences of Pop Culture in our lives today. Pop Culture plays a huge role in politics. Our generation is filled so much by technological advances, why not get politics involved. The internet and media can be very overwhelming and too much at times, however when it comes to getting things out there, it is a great place to do it. There are so many people constantly on the internet and websites, they are bound to run into a little campaigning. It is also a great opportunity to get younger kids involved, since the internet is most populated with the younger generation. I found a video on You Tube that takes Pop Culture to another level. This video, I Am Afraid of Americans, is a very interesting and a bizarre video. It shows pictures of America and Americans through history. America is a place of the unexpected, which can be very scary, but it is life. One of the clips that was shown was of politics, specifically Bush, not being necessarily portrayed nicely. The article, Photoshop of Democracy, spoke of photo shopping as being a tool to portray politics. Yes, I do think the internet and blogging is a great way to spread the word, but at the same time we have to take it with a grain of salt. We can not always believe what is out there or let photo shop corrupt our mindset. The example on You Tube I found showed real-life pictures of our history through the good and the bad. However, it was a very negative portrayal of America. Politics have done bad, but they have also done really good. What we have to remember is to take the good with the bad, and trust our judgments with the influences of the media and internet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJz5CLRa4E8

Smart Mobs

I felt the article, Smart Mobs, was a good article. It seemed a bit extreme and unrealistically, but at the same time not that extreme at all. Our world has grown tremendously in the last century and even decade. Many people did not think our world would be where it is today, so really a device that can tell us directions once we point at a street sign is not that out of reach. When describing Smart Mobs, Rheingold says “Smart Mobs aren’t a “thing” that you can point to with one finger or describe with two word, and more than “the faternet” was a thing you can point to…Smart Mobs are unpredictable but at least partially describable emergent property that I see surfacing as more people use mobile telephones, more chips communicate with each other, more computers know where they are located, more technology becomes wearable, more people start using these new medias to invent new forms of sex, commerce, entertainment, communication, and as always, conflict.” It is true, Smart Mobs are unpredictable. I am anxious to see where are world is headed to next!A big part of this article was about mobile devices and cell phones. Cell phones are huge in our culture, and in most cultures. There are so many technological advances in mobile devices anymore that we are so lost without our cell phone. Having a cell phone is such an amazing development, but it can get a bit too much. Texting is a huge part of a cell phone. This can be good in terms of being convenient and practical in certain times when needing a fast, quick response. However, I think our generation is getting stuck in the techno-phase, where cell phones have become the means to everything. For example, texting a person out on a date or asking serious questions to another individual through the cell phone by text. I personally think that texting is not the way to handle important things. We need to step it up, whether we are afraid to confront real life or not. For one, we can not see the other person or we may take words the wrong way. I think we are hidden by technology. We use technology to do our dirty work at times, which should not be the case. What happened to being personal with a person without the use of mobile devices? Smart Mobs are great and can be exciting to society, but what we need to look at is how we use these devices. Yes, our world has grown into this techo-world, but there is a time and place for everything, we just need to realize that.
http://www.helium.com/tm/497230/cellphone-usage-present-society

The Affects of the Internet

Rushkoff’s article was filled with a lot of good information, but there was a little part in there that had me interested in Chapter 3. This part states, “The internet was considered sexy simply because young people took an interest in it. People who developed internet applications in this way were called cyberpunks or hackers, and their antics were often equated with those of Wild West outlaws, hippies, Situationists and even communists.” It is interesting how the internet was considered sexy to people. This statement right here is where technology takes a whole new stance and is taken to the next level. Originally the internet was a text-only operation. As we see now, it has advanced very far and maybe a bit too far at that. In the section of Rushkoff’s article, Backlash, it talks of the downfalls with the internet. Our culture is still very much into television, but the internet has definitely taken over. Leaders of the media were struck with a drop of business. Internet is an obvious threat or competition to the media world. On top of the internet putting other people out of businesses, there were other problems. “..It was, in fact, the US government, concerned about the spread of pornography to minors and encryption technology to rogue nations, that took more direct actions against the early internet’s new model of open collaboration. From Rushkoff’s article I am going to focus on the downfalls of the internet, particularly pornography. The internet is easily abused and very much overused for one’s own needs. Many people have let the internet take over their lives. It is just sad. Pornography is huge in the internet industry that is why I chose an article that talks of the affects of pornography. The internet is scary anymore. It allows easy access to children. There are many pop-ups and growing websites that pressures or teases the population on the internet, mostly men. I suppose it is life. We should take responsibility for ourselves if we are capable of doing that. We make our choices and decisions and we deal with the consequences. From experience, I have had to deal with someone with an internet addiction. Its not fun. It hurts. I never thought it would have been that big of an issue, but it is. Any kind of addiction or overuse is not good, and if you think you can forget about it, you are in denial. The internet can take over your life. There are people who do not go out as often or feel they are not good enough to date other people, so they rely on the internet (porn) to get their fix or just to feel wanted. It may feel nice for a that moment, but in the long run it is not healthy. We can not lose real human interaction! The internet is great, but do not abuse it. There is so much out there in the world rather than to be a loner; a sad person stuck on the internet. Rushkoff’s article was good, but it made me think. I think the government needs to go to better means to stop this internet abuse and get those pedophiles away from us. Do not let the internet take over your life!

http://www.bewebaware.ca/english/pornography.aspx

Reach Out and Elect Someone

Postman's Reach Out and Elect Someone, stresses the use of commercials on the television in relation to politics. The part of the article that sparked some interest to me was this: "What the advertiser needs to know is not what is right about the product but what is wrong about the buyer. And so the balance of the business expenditures shifts from produt research to market research. The television commercial has oriented business away from making products of value and toward making consumers feel valuable, which means the business of business has now become pseudo-therapy. Pseudo-therapy, meaning a false perception. Often times, commericials have famous stars, sport players, or known politics to sell a product. The consumer gets so involved of who is selling the product, rather than how good or maybe what the product even is. Our culture has become a culture that gets so caught up with the image rather than what is being really advertised. The example that I chose for this article in relation was the "Obama Girl" on You Tube. This video actually took me by surprise. Honestly I am not too involved with politics and do not even visit You Tube that often, so this may not be a surprise to anyone. However, The "Obama Girl" on You Tube is a young beautiful woman that one would say is obsessed with Obama. The original Obama Girl, still beautiful started in 1952. Current Obama Girl, Amber Lee Ettinger is most famous for her song, "I gotta crush on Obama." This girl has become well-known all overm being seen on tv, newspapers, magazines, and on The Morning Show. This example that I have is one that relates to Postman's article, because "Obama Girl" is like a marketing tool for Obama in the presidential elections. One of the narrator's for the You Tube video even said, "When you hear of a leading presidential canidate, you got this." A product may not be respresented in this case, but it is the same concept. A beautiful girl who models and sings could be what gets an extra vote for Obama! It is exactly like lets say, Tyra Banks selling a makeup product on a commercial. Any girl would want to buythe product, because they think they will look as beautiful and stunning as them once they have it. The "Obama Girl" is obviously liked and wanted otherwise she would not still be around. Supposively there is now a "Guiliani Girl" posing as a new competitor for "Obama Girl." Not to offend anyone, but I think this is getting a little ridiculous. I agree with Postman when image and how the way something is being portrayed is looked upon moreso than the actual product or point getting acrossed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77yNLuji-rE&eurl=http://caffeblla.blogspot.com/

Television in Society

After reading Neil Postman’s, The Age of Show Business, the idea set across or purpose of the article I got out of it was to allow our minds to actually think. Our society has been so bombarded with technology innovations, discoveries, and advances that we get so caught up in this electronic world. Perhaps, it is because we live in this generation and did not grow up without, in this case, the TV that we are not so fazed. The Age of Show Business, talks of television simply being entertainment that even the news and debates are more to entertain us than to be taken seriously. Everything seems to be so organized, and perfectly played out there is no room for questioning or discussion. For example, the news cast was mentioned to be pretty people and perfect speaking with no flaws. Obviously no one is perfect, but the TV can many times take us from reality. The article I found that related to Postman’s article was, 'Reality TV' rules the ratings but dumbs our culture. This article spoke of TV shows such as, Fear Factor, The Osbournes, True Life, and even surgery shows that were put on TV to entertain us. These shows are exciting, they are one would say stupid, or not important but we still enjoy it. An example that was given was seeing people get breast surgeries. The article argued, “How many times do we have to see these shows for our confidence to be shattered?” I believe it is true, TV does and can make us feel more insecure about how we look or if we are good enough. Both in the article I found and Postman’s article I concluded and agreed that our society today is an unshockable society due to television. It is true what Postman states in the end, "There's No Business But Show Business."
http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2002/04/23/Forum/reality.Tv.Rules.The.Ratings.But.Dumbs.Our.Culture-242956.shtml