Last Blog, Last Song, Last Thoughts

With the knowledge that my last blog post was approaching I have spent the last week in contemplation of what I want to talk about. Of course there is the desire to be profound but honestly I’m not.

So, I think what I want to talk about is my concern for uncritical consumers and myself. The last couple weeks of class the books The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Giver, as well as the movies V for Vendetta and Gamer have been in my head. All of these works of fiction are about the future. In these stories society has lost the ability to choose to act on their own. They are spoon-fed the way they are supposed to act, the news, and all things. There is hardly any free will. So this makes me think about our own society. It makes me wonder about our future. I worry that someday we may end up like one of these depictions. I worry that not enough people question what is going on in the world. I worry that not enough people wonder why we are in a war. I worry that not enough people questions society’s values as depicted in some reality TV shows. I worry that not enough people realize that news sources have a responsibility to report the news but that they are also businesses. (Note I am guilty of all of the above at some point or another.)

I worry about myself as well. I like to think I am a critical consumer through my education, specifically classes like our pop-culture class but I worry. This weekend I too my baby sister (she’s 13) to see The Last Song with Miley Cyrus (mostly because I wanted to see it) and I really liked it. I can’t stop thinking about it. But as I think about how much I liked it (even though I cried like a baby) I wonder if I really liked it or if I’ve just been bred to like it the last couple months. I wonder if I like it because of the coverage it’s received because of Miley Cyrus. I’ve heard Nicholas Sparks created the story specifically for Miley Cyrus and then I wonder if the characters were specifically constructed to appeal to a certain type of audience member or if it was truly how Nicholas Sparks saw the story being. Needless to say I’ve been thinking in circles all weekend.

I think I’ve concluded that I liked The Last Song due to the emotions it evoked and the tale of redemption and love it told. (As well as super hot Liam Helmsworth, Cyrus’ co-star and boyfriend, lucky girl.) I also think that as long as those who have had the opportunity to become critical consumers remain critical consumers and spread critical consumerism we’ll be okay. (Maybe we’ll have to participate in some culture jamming as well though.) I also think that sometimes you have to just throw the towel in and forget consuming critically and just enjoy the pop-culture around us.

Sorry I’m so wordy.