Constructing the self.. Canadian identity

In terms of the reading from week 2 " as Canadian as possible", we see that there is evidence and the construction of the Canadian identity, which is in turn expressing their unique place or role . The reading looks at the cross-culture between Canada and the USA and how Canada tries to detach itself from the assumption of being just like USA or being in the shadow of the United States. Looking at the construction of the self, we see that it is a destructive/constructive pleasure. Self theory is a method of critical thought that is created and used for the self. The main theme around it was national identity an d Canada's lack this of due to America’s influence on their culture. When i look in the media and see people like Jim Carrey and Justin Bieber, the fact that they are both Canadian shocks me. There is no sense of this Canadianism in either of them and i would never tell, maybe because I'm foreign myself but there is not distinguishing features about Canada. Maybe that is why they are trying so hard to build a Canadian identity.

Consumerism

I would be lying if I didn't say that sometimes when I'm bored in class I'll look at clothes on the internet and sometimes even bags or shoes. Consumerism is everywhere in today's society, and according to Juliet Schor's essay The New Politics of Consumption, it's starting to cause a rift between Americans. "The new consumerism, with its growing aspirational gap, has begun to jeopardize the quality of American life." (Schor, 186) This also relates to the idea of symbolic violence, which is the idea that the capitalist system forces Americans into bankruptcy because we are constantly trying to compete with one another for the best and newest clothes, cars, houses, yachts...the list goes on. The image that I chose in the cover of Nirvana's album Everyday and shows a baby reaching out for a dollar bill, symbolizing that we are taught to appreciate and strive for money from the time we are born because consumerism is so ingrained into our way of life.

Portrayal of Current Events on South Park

When I was younger, I was never interested in watching South Park, but as I got older I started watching the show more and more not only because it was funny but because of the way Trey Parker and Matt Stone addressed current events on the show. One of my all-time favorite episodes is Elementary School Musical (Season 12, Episode 13) because of the way it parodied the portrayal of high school in Disney's High School Musical franchise. Mostly recently, South Park has dedicated three episodes of its current season to mocking BP's response to the Gulf Oil Crisis. This clip relates back to our readings this week because without seeing the actual BP president's apology video, the parodied one is insignificant. As Ted says,
"they can call attention to and critique visual and auditory signifiers of power like the suits, impersonal terminology, 'breaking news,' and 'expert opinion' tropes of contemporary U.S. journalism, while also exposing those institutions for the biased and conservative forces they are. However, responsive tactics are also limited by that same methodology. Although they can certainly “speak truth to power,” to borrow Foucault’s terms, they cannot reinvent the structures of power themselves. In other words, they react rather than recreate." Although South Park has successfully altered its viewers as to how they feel about the apologies, they can only make fun of the apologies and not change the outcome of the events.

Coon 2: Hindsight
Tags: SOUTH
PARKEric Cartman,more...

Like a few others have posted, I also never really watch South Park before this class. After watching episodes in class, and the latest readings by Ted, I feel that not only do I want to start watching, but that it may also be beneficial to my knowledge of current events.

Through the reading I found that the show is very allusive about its overall stance on politics, the economy, norms, pop culture, etc. After some research, I found that this allusiveness reflects on the views of the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Here are lines from an interview for their upcoming film in which they were asked about the term "South Park Republican":

Q: I don't know if you've heard about this, but there have been essays written about the concept of the "South Park Republican."

TREY: Yeah, we have seen that. What we're sick of—and it's getting even worse—is: you either like Michael Moore or you wanna fuckin' go overseas and shoot Iraqis. There can't be a middle ground. Basically, if you think Michael Moore's full of shit, then you are a super-Christian right-wing whatever. And we're both just pretty middle-ground guys. We find just as many things to rip on on the left as we do on the right. People on the far left and the far right are the same exact person to us.

In another exchange from the same interview:

Q: You seem to feel free to roast everybody equally.

TREY: Everybody needs a good roasting.

MATT: It's been pretty funny on both sides.

TREY: And it comes from an honest belief we have, which is... George Bush doesn't know what's going on. Michael Moore does not know what's going on. And Alec Baldwin definitely does not know what's going on. Basically, this shit is gigantically complicated.

I believe their middle-ground stance (along with the parodic, satiric, and ironic humor of course!) is what makes the show as interesting as it is . It's multiple allusive elements provides a critical ontology to help the viewer think outside of the box on current events, issues, and concerns that would often be displayed inarguably in news media. I say this because when I watch news stories, the convincing way in which they are presented almost always buy my sympathies as they are made to do so. South Park helps me think in new ways and to see things from different perspectives. This is due in part to the overall critique of conservative and liberal alike--as shown in the interview above, they dish it out to everyone. The disruptive ontology in South Park helps me recognize how ridiculous we American's can be sometimes.

Laughing At? Or Laughing With?

Before this class, I

have never seen episodes of South Park or the Chappelle Show. I didn’t know too much about either, I just knew a basis for each of these comedy shows was to make fun of certain ethnicities, races, and

subcultures. I understand that both of these shows are very different in some respects, but a main similarity is that they both share a common audience. Whether that can be a good thing or not, is debatable. W

hile watching segments of each clip I started to realize what Ted was saying about why Dave Chappelle stopped his show; because he couldn’t tell if people were laughing at him and with the jokes, or laughing with him and at the jokes. After Ted said that I started to think about that a little more about comedy in general. When people, ethnicities, races, subcultures, etc. are being made fun of there is always a change that at least one person in the audience is laughing at the criticism of the stereotypes. Knowing this, are certain comics promoting racism? I just

thought it was funny to think that even after the strides people have made to overcome racism, it still strongly exists.

South park- not afraid to address taboo's

South Park has never failed to make everyone crack up, there may be a moment of uncomfortable if you have never watched the show before but as it goes on and even to viewers, you can not help but laugh at the parodies that south park is know for.
After reviewing Ted's conclusion in his book, with the second paragraph i noticed the use of "convergence culture" i had no idea what this meant so googled.
the unity of old and new media. realistically the show uses profanity and thus can't be watched by everyone, it addresses issues that go on day to day to make fun of them and addresses even the taboo's that are in society. This may be why people feel uncomfortable sometimes, but with the shows ridiculous nature sometimes its hard to to find it hilarious. Overall i think it goes beyond just being a cartoon, and is an extremely clever show!

Watching South Park

Before this class I had never seen a full episode of South Park. When I was younger my parents did not completely ban me from watching the show, they just let my brother and I know that they strongly disapproved. The reason for me never watching the show was not my parents’ discouragement though, it was the fact that I was never exposed to it and didn’t have the desire to really go out of my way to view it. Now that I have been exposed to it and know a little more what the show is all about, I find myself interested and motivated to seek out more episodes. I never realized that South Park critiqued our media culture intelligently and in a way that is fascinating, entertaining, and funny.