Todays Class

Personally I found today's class very enlightening. I fully agree with Katie. On Tuesday I didn't really understand everything on the theory, but for the Dramatic Theory I feel like it really came together and made sense. Maybe it had something to do with the way that the notes were set up, I'm not really sure. I felt like everything put out in front of me in simple terms with the definitions really helped. Honestly, I didn't read the chapter before class and just glanced at it when I found out about the quiz. I'm sure I did great ha. Point being that after we discussed everything, and with everyone's comments it all seemed to click. I also agree with everyone else saying that the Narrative perspective makes more sense when discussing every day life but I just didn't grasp the concepts the other day and while discussing the Dramatic Theory it makes a little more sense now.

On to another topic: The Jersey Shore
I think that everyone is looking too much into what these crazy over the top "Jersey Shore" people say and do. I have never been there but its crazy to think that people actually act like that. Their use of certain words that everyone might not like to hear is their way of getting more attention. They knew when they started all of this, I'm sure, that it would draw more attention and drama their way. I feel like words come and go from either being popular or being not accepted in society. I feel like to some people different words have different meanings and we all know what we should and shouldn't say. Some people just don't care about what society thinks as much as others do.

The Dramatistic Perspective =]

Pop Culture Study, So What?

So why study pop culture? After all, your favorite television show is just a show and that Reese’s ad is just an ad. But is it really just a TV show or just an ad? My answer, and hopefully everyone’s answer, is no. They are much, much more than that. Why?

Pop culture texts are complex and contradictory. They are open to many interpretations and subject to unexpected uses. People can enjoy the same television show for two totally different reasons. Pop culture’s relationship with its consumers can’t be reduced to “just a show.” According to Sellnow, there is no such thing as objectivity when it comes to pop culture. Media consumption is something we do, not something that happens to us. So why wouldn’t we want to study something that we are actively doing? (Especially because it affects us, as rhetorical critics, too.)

We construct our own personal traditions from the contents made available to use through pop culture texts. We use these media texts as ways to explore who we are, what we want, what we value and how we relate to other people (and so on). Images and symbols from these texts help us read against our perception of the world. All in all, we are greatly influenced by pop culture; therefore, we should care about it enough to know why we are so influenced.

To look at it another way - some people study the periodic table and how its elements react to other elements. If it is important to know those interactions, why wouldn’t we want to know about our interactions with pop culture and its elements?

Little Jersey Shore

Kids Re-Enact the MTV Series, Jersey Shore.

POP CULTURE. WHY? (1 REASON)

Barack Obama, became the first sitting president to ever appear on late-nite television. His campaign was impacted greatly by the amount of pop culture coverage it received. (Oprah,MTV,BET,) He's even been called the biggest brand name of today.

(Julianna Goldman for Bloomberg.com)

Why should people study pop culture? (just one reason)

Because we the PEOPLE elected a president based largely on his 'cool' appeal. (albeit rather ignorantly) I am an Obama supporter but those who try to deny the direct impact of his popularity on their decision to vote (whether it be for him or not) are living in a damn fantasy land. In order to be a responsible consumer of pop culture one needs to understand the impact that it has on a macro level but also the impact (if any-for the skeptics) it has on you personally.

I have , over time, become more increasingly aware of the ‘noises’ all around me. Anytime I have that catchy ‘lady gaga’tune in my head or have the overwhelming urge to run out and purchase whatever the hell it is that beyonce’ is selling this week, I have to sit back and examine where all of this is coming from. If I am doing things because I genuinely fell the desire to is fine, but if my everyday dealings are influenced by the crap I hear on the television or read on the internet , then for me, that is a huge problem. I try to limit my intake… Its difficult at times but being constantly aware give me a sense of control. I know that I cannot control the behaviors of others but if I do my part to make sure that what I am doing is on point then, I have already won have the battle.

Social Media Revolution

5 years ago no one knew what MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, ect. were. Now, they are the fastest growing social networks in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Social media is an important part of daily life for most teens, college kids and adults. Important enough that advertisers spend approximately $1.8 billion annually to display their product name on social media sites.

According to a newspaper study kids are now getting almost 11 hours a day of media. Computer usage came in third place behind T.V. and Audio. The study also stated that 53 percent of 15-18 year olds use social networking sites.

These numbers are only expected to increase in the coming years with the constant technology improvements. The iSlate is getting ready to make its debut and the iPhone sales continue to soar.

The new average age to get a cell phone is eight years old. This makes me feel old since I got my first cell phone at the age of 16. The reason I picked this as a topic was because my eight year old cousin got a ‘Droid’ cell phone from Verizon last week and I was curious to whether this was normal-apparently, it is.

It may seem that I am against this social media revolution. However, if you see me at any point in the day I am probably on my Blackberry texting, twittering or checking my e-mail. While I love the immediacy of the social media revolution there are some days when I feel that I have suffered from an information overload.

However, that does not stop me from checking all of these sources whenever I have a free minute.

Why Letterman's Opinion Matters

Most people who follow popular culture are aware of the drama unfolding at NBC related to its late night programming. The network’s decision to return Jay Leno to hosting duties on The Tonight Show, ousting Conan O’Brien, has dominated the conversation on social networking sites and provided plenty of ammunition for comedians.

This clip from a recent episode of The Late Show with David Letterman illustrates how important context is when analyzing a pop culture text. Because David Letterman is a late night personality on a rival network, it isn’t unusual to see him poking fun at the mess over at NBC. However, as Letterman explains in the clip, the whole situation played out once before – with Letterman as a participant.

“The same kind of thing happened when I was over there,” Letterman explains, referring to the conflict that developed when Johnny Carson retired from hosting The Tonight Show in 1992. Letterman continues: “It was announced that Johnny Carson was leaving and we just thought that they would move us right in.” Instead, NBC gave the program to Jay Leno (who Letterman refers to here as ‘Big Jaw Leno’). What should have been a smooth transition became a nasty split between NBC and Letterman, who moved to rival CBS and started a new talk show in the same timeslot as Leno.

“Here we are, almost twenty years later,” Letterman says. “Once again, it’s happened.” Indeed, NBC’s decision to put Leno back on The Tonight Show means Conan O’Brien is leaving the network, probably to start a new show on Fox.

Knowing the backstory involved gives Letterman more credibility than someone like Jimmy Kimmel or Jon Stewart making jokes about the situation. He knows how it feels to lose out to Leno, as Conan has. And he knows how unpleasant it is to have the private details of your business aired publicly.

Of course, that isn’t stopping him from making jokes about it.

Why Study Pop Culture?

In order to explain this, we first need to make it clear what pop culture is. Pop culture, according to Sellnow, is comprised of the everyday objects, actions, and events that influence people to believe and behave in certain ways. TV shows, movies, news, publications, video games, instant messaging, and the internet are just a few of the many examples that could be classified as pop culture.

So why study it? The reason why is because pop culture has a direct impact on our lives. They make us who we are. The TV shows and movies that we watch, the video games and sports that we play, the books and news publications that we read, all of these things make up our own self identity. In a more broader sense, they don't just define us, they can define an entire generation as well.

When you look back through time at the history of pop culture, we learn about the dominant and most popular lifestyles that defined the era. We learn of the movies that were most popular, the news anchors that were most watched and respected, the books and authors that were the most read and cherished, fashion statements and trends that existed from time to time, the music and musicians that we listened to, and the sports stars and teams that we watched and idolized. Through the years millions of people in America and around the world became fascinated and inspired by these trends. They influenced the way people thought, acted, and lived their lives.

Pop culture has defined generations in many different ways throughout history. The lives it impacts and the generations it has defined remind us of what the United States and the world used to be like. In return it also has a direct impact on the pop culture of the future, such as the ones mentioned above that are currently defining our generation. We study these trends over the years to understand why things are like what they are now, and what they may be like in the future.

Why Study Popular Culture?

It is crucial to study pop-culture, especially its rhetorical elements. For the most part, communication experts are torn between how popular culture functions. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or in this case, does the public influence such things as the media, or do the media influence the public?

Raymie McKerrow argues that the end-goal of partaking in a rhetorical analysis of popular culture is to go beyond Aristotle's five canons of communication, accept some of the negatives as positives, and understand how "emotion" affects communication as a whole. As for the latter, I use the term "emotion" to describe how audiences respond to a communicator beyond the address being given. Is the speaker of a specific ethnic background? How might someone respond to that information? Although we regret to admit such things can alter our thoughts, they do.

With McKerrow in mind, I believe it is crucial that we, as the pop culture audience, collect the fragmented, mediated texts and use them to discover what influence pop-culture has on us, and likewise, how much influence we have on pop-culture, especially the media. Now I come to my point.

I believe that, while it would be groundbreaking if we discovered what came first, our focus should be on what comes next. We know what influences we currently have on pop-culture and what it has on us, but we do not which entity influenced the other; therefore, we should use our knowledge to try to race ahead of the curve. By taking a rhetorical analysis on pop-culture, we may discover how it reacts to certain national/social events. If we can do the aforementioned, then I believe we can possess a stronger direct influence on what pop-culture portrays and enforces in the near future.

Class Example

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