Blog Week 12

I think that Morgan Spurlock qualifies as a culture jammer because he is doing something against the norm and trying to get a message out about something he is clearly passionate about. Everyone knows or everyone should know that eating a steady diet of McDonalds or any fast food for that matter is unhealthy. Morgan Spurlock has taken this idea and saw what it did after a month of eating nothing but McDonalds and the results were pretty close to what everyone expected. It caused him to gain weight, did damage to his liver and gave him mood swings that had never occurred before. McDonalds is now synonymous with western culture and has spanned the globe with restaurants in almost every country around the world. Morgan Spurlock exposed the truth about what eating a steady diet of McDonalds food can do to a person and for that I think he qualifies as a culture jammer.
Because there is always two sides to an argument I’ve often wondered if someone was ever going to do another McDonalds documentary but instead of supersizing the meals, eat a balanced diet and get a reasonable amount of exercise. In Spurlock’s documentary his lifestyle was very sedentary and it would be interesting to see what would happen if someone ate McDonalds everyday but mixed it with a little bit of exercise. My thoughts have finally been answered by Tom Naughton who recently did just that. While I have not seen the new documentary I imagine it greatly contradicts the message that Spurlock’s documentary was trying to convey. In my belief it would be possible to maintain a reasonably healthy body weight by eating fast food on a daily basis with exercise.

Blog Week 11

In the Resistance and Alternative slide show for Week 12 when talking about voting, “the people” that do not get to vote because they are not a Canadian citizen is a system that is somehow unfair. When voting for a Canadian government should the people that are voting not be Canadian citizens? If immigrants are paying taxes, working and living in Canada and they wish to vote, they must first become a Canadian citizen which to me is the way it should be. While this may not include all “the people”, it represents the portion of voters who are legally allowed to do so which to me demonstrates democracy positively. When we vote we are not preventing something like anarchy, we are choosing an individual to represent our country.

Blog Week 10

I believe that gamers have surpassed the subculture status and become a mainstream activity. While certain games have their niche markets the video game world has become so diversified that anyone can find a game that caters to wants. When people are asked to define a “gamer” many will think of the Dungeons and Dragons nerd that spends countless hours playing fantasy games in his parent’s basement but this is not the case anymore. With the advent of the Wii system video game designers have created games of everyday activities that can cater from the young child all the way to the grown adult.
A good example of this is Wii’s cooking game or fitness game that not only entertains but can also benefit the person playing. In the cooking game people must master chopping, grilling and baking to move on to the next level which in turn can actually benefit their real cooking skills. In an age where kids are living an increasingly sedentary lifestyle Wii Fit could be the answer to some these problems. With kids who are not fond of sports or the outdoors Wii Fit is a perfect “fit” for getting them at least a little bit active. With ways to track your improvements and different mini-games to satisfy different gamers the Wii Fit is becoming an increasingly easy ways to have kids exercise while still enjoying the fun of playing a video game.
Nursing homes are also finding this product to be increasingly useful to allow the elderly to get some form of exercise, especially in the cold winter months when deep snow or freezing temperatures can hamper their ability to go outside. Wii also allows the elderly or disabled a chance to play sports games that they may not be physically able to do in real life. Games like tennis, football, soccer, and even boxing can be played from the comfort of their own home without risking injury. Because of the wide array of games and gaming types I believe that gamers have become the mainstream.

Blog Week 9

After watching the movie Tough Guise I was kind of taken aback by the harsh criticism Jackson Katz uses against males and some of the holes in a few of his arguments. While I agree with the overall point of the video I found that some of the points that Katz brought to attention only weakened his argument. The one that stood out strongly in my mind was his use of sports as personifying the tough guise image. Firstly he brought up the point of hockey and baseball fights and how it is negatively impacting this generation by glorifying violence and enforcing a tough guy image. Hockey and baseball have both been around for over 100 years now and to say that fighting is negatively affecting the youth of today makes one question why every other generation that has grown up watching and playing these sports has not been affected. Hockey especially has been cleaned up immensely in the past ten years with harsher penalties and suspensions for fighting and a focus more on the goal scoring side of the sport. Another sport analogy Katz uses is the menacing football coach that won’t let players show emotion and forces them to “be a man”. After playing football for 6 years I did not have a single coach that told me to “be a man” if I was injured. The priority of all the coaches in my experience was to make sure the athlete was not seriously injured and they would never tell someone to play through an injury they thought to be serious. Another stat that Katz used to support the tough guise argument was that 99.8% of all rapes are carried out by males. While I’m not discounting this stat, it is very one sided because it is nearly impossible for a woman to rape a man because of the physics of sexual intercourse. The other stats that Katz provided in the video are appalling and definitely need to be dealt with I just find the rape statistic to be a one sided falsification of the issue. Another example of Katz showing only one side of the actual story is his use of Cuba Gooding Jr. in Boyz in the Hood. This whole genre of movies including Boyz in the Hood, Juice, South Central and Menace II Society glorify and display the images of violence that Katz himself is arguing against. He uses a clip from Juice to show the tough guy persona at the beginning of the film and then uses a movie with an almost exact plot to try and justify his argument at the end of the film. My last argument about the Tough Guise video is that Katz brought attention to the “rise” in gay bashing. I feel that looking back historically the gay and lesbian community has been accepted now more than ever. The whole persona of gays and lesbians is shown in a much different light than years past and I think that society as a whole is much more accepting. While there are still many people that are anti-gay and lesbian I personally believe that they are now the minority and with more time will come more acceptance. In closing, I am not disagreeing with Jackson Katz’s stand on the subject of the tough guise that many males display and if anything totally agree with his argument but I feel that some of the points he brought to light were not entirely truthful and were used to sway the viewers opinion. This is very clearly a problem in our society that can be seen on a daily basis and Katz has done an excellent job of bringing the issues to light.

Blog Week 8

Although there are many atrocities that happen while living on the street, I feel that most of the hip hop artists of today are glorifying the violence. It almost seems that if you’re not from the “ghetto” or haven’t been to jail that your career as a hip hop artist will never succeed. Some artists have even taken advantage of this fact and produced their records while in jail in hopes of boosting their record sales. The show Trailer Park Boys does a humorous but very true parody of this situation in which the rapper in the park is forced to live under his trailer so no one finds out that he actually didn’t go to jail and simply got off with community service. Notoriety is even further exaggerated by the media which prides itself on publishing articles about famous people going to jail. As young artists start out in the music industry they could only hope for the same amount of free press that a rapper would get if he went to jail. When middle-class kids start listening to this music they get a false sense of the law and think that this type of behaviour is okay. While these types of lyrics have a negative influence on society they also push out many of the talented artists that actually have something to say. Listening to hip hop right now is so repetitive because the only thing people are rapping about is how much drugs they’ve sold, how many guns they have or how much bling they’ve amassed. When artists glorifying violence and drugs outsell artists with actual talent and a message behind them it is a sad time for the music industry.

Blog Week 7

After reading the comment in the subculture and counterculture slideshow about how music was one of the most important means in expressing the values of the hippie culture it makes one think that music has always been a significant source of popular culture for every generation. Dating back a few hundred years people entertained themselves with live music, opera’s and plays but they were reserved almost strictly for the wealthy. Looking back to some of the earlier slideshows these people of high culture influenced what became popular culture (hegemony) as technological advancements allowed the lower class citizens more leisure time. As time went on popular culture was shaped by different styles of music and people now can relate these types of music to what was fashionable “back in the day”. When one thinks about the prohibition era after World War I they usually conjure up an image of the Speakeasy where copious amounts of alcohol are being served with someone playing a high tempo song on the piano. Another image that one might conjure up when thinking about this time period is a family gathered around the radio as a modern day family might gather around the television. After that came jazz which started out as a subculture but worked its way into popular culture and opened the door for rock and roll. After the success of people like Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, rock and roll worked its way into popular culture especially with the younger generations. As tension began to rise in the US with the Vietnam War, racism and sexual inequalities, the hippie generation took their style of music and brought it to the masses with open air concerts, radio stations and anti war demonstrations. After the peace and love music of the hippies came hard rock from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Kiss and Black Sabbath that again influenced popular culture. Disco came shortly after hard rock with grunge and hip hop following closely behind them. Every generation has had its own particular style of music which in turn has influenced popular culture of that time. While almost all of these styles of music became popular within a subculture they all became part of popular culture very quickly and helped influence society at that time. The music of these time periods influenced every aspect of popular culture including clothing, movies, books and whole lifestyles. Even looking at people today one can pick out who listens to what kinds of music simply by the way they dress and act. In short, I think that music has been and always will be one of the most significant sources of popular culture.

Blog Week 6

Something that really caught my attention from the slideshow was Naomi Klein’s observation that companies no longer market their products but a particular lifestyle. My passion is snowboarding and until now never really thought about the underlying themes in advertising that goes on in magazines, videos or pictures. In snowboarding and skateboarding, more than any other sport, riders are often characterized by the brands that they ride for. Snowboard and skateboard brands give away millions of dollars in free product to riders that they hope will display their version of the snowboarding lifestyle. “Brands are stars” is an especially true statement in the board sport world because everyone associates a particular rider with the brand that they ride for. A universally known company like Burton tries to portray their riders in a family-friendly light to make it appealing to the masses and try and sell more products. While everyone on the team has their individual style and taste it is ultimately the company (Burton in this case) that decides what personalities and actions to showcase. A company like Technine snowboards displays a heavily hip hop influenced lifestyle with ridiculously baggy clothes and graphics that represent the hip hop ideals (guns, drugs, money). This brand is less concerned with their family image and more concerned about giving the hip hop influenced youth a product that will represent their lifestyle. Many other companies do the same “lifestyle marketing”, often relating their product to a particular lifestyle influenced by a music genre (hip hop, punk, classic rock, etc….). Because of these impressive marketing techniques many riders refuse to ride for particular companies or are dedicated to only one because of the lifestyle they infer.

Blog Week 5

After the events of 9/11 many people exploited the tragedy by making souvenirs to “commemorate” what had happened when in actuality they were just trying to turn a profit. The same type of thing is happening in the US with the advent of the first black president Barack Obama. Companies are taking advantage of the fact that the American public has so much faith in the new president to turn things around and get “America back on track” that they are sticking his face on every possible product available in hopes of making some money. As with the September 11th attacks Americans are trying to return to “normal” which means a steady economy and plentiful job opportunities. So how do they get back to normal, they start consuming again. This need to consume is what the businesses producing all this Barack merchandise are hoping for. After traveling through the US multiple times in the last couple of months there is not a single convenience store or gas station that does not have at least ten different products with Obama’s face on it. Everything from coins and shot glasses to underwear and t-shirts have Obama’s face plastered on it with a slogan about how it is time for a change. What will be very interesting is to see is if the American public will turn on Obama if the economy is not turned around quickly. With so much faith built up into one president on only a four year term I believe that people are setting Obama up to fail. There are great expectations for this new president that could possibly fall short and decimate Obama’s chances for a second term.

Blog Week 4

After reading through the slideshow on malls I felt it necessary to write about the different successes of some of the malls in London. Westmount Mall, in my opinion, is a much more pleasant space to walk through than White Oaks or Masonville Mall yet it is in jeopardy of closing its doors because of the lack of interest from the public. I find it to be more visually appealing as well as much easier to navigate yet people, when given the choice, will inevitably choose that as the weakest of the three main malls in London. This brings me to my point that it is not the mall itself that attracts people but the stores that are in the mall. An obvious exception to this rule would be the mega-malls such as West Edmonton Mall or the Mall of America which attract people not with the stores inside but with carnival midways, amusement park rides or water parks. This brings up an interesting argument on which aspect of the mall is more important to the consumer: the appeal of the mall itself or the stores. For 90% of the malls in North America I would say that the variety of stores is the main reason for a person to shop at a particular mall. To back up this point I turn to Karl Marx and his term commodity fetishism, that it is the commodity itself that fulfills our human desire and not the space or context it is sold in. This could be why big box stores such as Wal-Mart are now becoming the predominant shopping locale because a person can get everything they want under one roof and are not concerned with the aesthetic appeal of a mall. In short I believe that most malls are selected on the commodities they offer instead of the interior décor but they are slowly getting pushed out of popularity by the convenience of the big box store.

Blogs Week 3

I believe that hegemony is becoming less and less applicable in our world as time goes on. Now that most people are literate and somewhat knowledgeable we question more and more the decisions of the upper class. I feel that for the most part the masses are now the ones in control of how people view the world and what popular culture is. It seems that there is an ever changing shift of cultural control away from the upper class and into the hands of the masses. While hegemony still convinces us to want a bigger house and more expensive car many people are turning away from this ideal and wanting more simplicity and affordability. The fact that the majority of people cannot afford what the upper class deems as popular is a major factor in the shift of control. Necessity seems to be the largest factor in our purchases today especially with the economy on the downturn and worries of lost jobs increasing. While many people are secure at their job a growing number of companies are downsizing making the next big purchase of a more expensive car, house, suit, etc. less appealing. As time goes on I believe we will continue to question upper class decisions more and more making the notion of hegemony a thing of the past.

Blogs Week 2

I found the comparison between ancient Rome and our mass entertainment society very interesting because one could argue the same thing is happening with our government trying to keep the general public entertained with certain events. While the Roman governments built the Coliseum to entertain the masses, our governments build things like arenas and stadiums to house sporting events and concerts. The term bread and circuses was used to explain the act of the government trying to distract the masses by giving away free food and entertainment as to not make trouble for the upper class. Now people assume they have the right to have accessible entertainment facilities and put pressure on politicians to make it happen. In Canada many small towns and communities have hockey arenas even though they are rarely used during the weekdays. While a lot of money comes from sponsorship, fundraising and admission costs the “city” is often responsible for the upkeep. Government built entertainment facilities like arenas could be considered our governments “bread and circus” on today’s societies. The difference between the two ages bread and circuses act is that today it is much more profit based while in Roman times it was to keep the mob occupied while important decisions were made by the upper class. By building the Coliseum the Emperors of Rome made their citizens believe that they were cared for by the upper class while also showing how powerful he was by erecting a giant facility for entertainment.

Blogs Week 1

While historic powerful figures used art to show that power looks good, all of the powerful figures in today’s world use the media and strategically planned words to make themselves/power look good. Politicians are now using every media outlet to win elections and get their names out there. This recent election in the United States was the first to have an online debate by the two candidates showing us that the internet and computers are becoming one of the strongest ways to advertise oneself. While television is still the main source of entertainment for most people I feel that the computer has almost surpassed it in scale of importance in the home. From art to newspapers to television and the internet, today’s politicians are making use of every aspect of popular culture to try and win an election. The strength of many political leaders depends on their ability to make their decisions look intelligent and it is the job of the candidate’s cabinet to make this happen. The main way to make a political candidate look strong is through a strong speech. I feel that many candidates can make or break their candidacy when talking with the public which is why so many political leaders are so well spoken. This is also the reason that they have their speeches and public addresses written by professionals. I feel that George Bush lacked in his ability to talk to the public and make sense which is why many people lost faith in him. While sending troops into the Middle east was a difficult decision to get the public behind I feel that the Bush cabinet and the President himself did a poor job of trying to gain support for the cause. Even though many people agreed with the cause and purpose in the beginning the mission has lost much of its support after coming up empty handed.