F2010 CMC100-2
Hi everyone! This is your CMC100 course blog. I look forward to your posts! Remember that you also have the course wiki, available at http://www.akastatistic.org/mediawiki
Friday, December 3, 2010
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
"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.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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!