Visual Perspective: 2010 Oscar Nominees

Who ya Gonna Call again?!

I personally am very excited about this! In the summer of 2012 the new Ghostubsters movie will be in theaters for the whole world to enjoy. I have been a large fan of Ghostbusters ever since I was a little kid and am glad to see the genre of awesome being passed on to the young people of 2012. The fact that they are keeping the original cast for this movie is knocking it's ethos through the roof. It is a perfect example of how "cool culture" can be mad from things that's origins are in the past. As long as a new spin of some sort is added to it, it will be in like Flynn. Most "cool culture" comes from styles or products that are new and exciting, but sometimes it just takes a little spit and polish on something old to make it golden again. Jokes have been made towards this movie since the original cast has certainly increased in age since the last film, but I believe that most of the actors in this film have only bettered with age! Because of these movies success in the past, they will know what it will take to not only bring in old fan's, but also get people that are new to the Ghostbusters franchise a taste of success as well. I am sure that some hot modern day actors will be thrown in to help with addressing the younger age groups, but I have no doubt that the producers will take great care in choosing who will work with this all star cast.

How images affect behavior

Images can be used within society to get a number of reactions. These responses can range from humor, happiness, sadness, violence, and even in protest. Images are used to get a multitude of reactions out of people. In the case of the image above, humor appears to be the appropriate response. I have seen this photo many times on many websites and have laughed every time. This ties in well with class discussions considering the nature of Rhetorical evaluations towards a selected text ( in this case a photograph). How symbols are used to influence and effect people. In the case of this photo, humor is the resulting response. Throughout history symbols have been used as iconic methods to unite people and bring them into the same understanding. It takes effort on the part of the Rhetor to create an image that will get a reaction out of people, even if it is not the one they expected. By studying how symbols effect people you can understand why the photo shown can be seen as humorous. The fact that someone would display this poster stating that the angry looking possum is supposed to be a cat is just foolish in its own since. The foolishness is then followed in that the picture of the possum is on a lost pet poster with contact information. The imagery is humorous because of the extreme look of the possum and how (Dan) is going to the trouble to find its original owner. Images have and will continue to generate actions out of people because it jumps out at people and summarizes a complex set of ideas within a set area that doesn't involve much thought. Instead of reading paragraphs of text an audience can just look at a photo and take in much of the same ideas.

All behold the mighty power of Facebook Status!

Social Networking sites have done more than just taken up a few minutes of our day, they are an all out addiction of cool! Addiction of cool may be a strong phrase for some, but I don't think so considering there are currently more than 400 million users on Facebook. Members are taking full advantage of their Facebooks in order to construct a social image of themselves. From what there pictures are, their friends, likes and dislikes, and status updates being the cream of the crop. You can see people on social networking sites anywhere were there is Internet access. Classrooms, restaurants, libraries, bathrooms if you get a good enough signal, and so much more! These social networking sites are used for every type of social situation, this is why they are in such high usage as of now. They can be used to find old friends, network, plan parties, support events, and even chat directly online. Advertisers see these sites as sanctuaries of data considering all the information people are posting about themselves. Research agents for advertising firms use these social network sites to see what today's different age groups see as being unique and interesting. Then they take it, put in a bottle, and offer it to them with online ad's taking up a side of your screen during the usage of these sites. For young people it is wedding ring offers, local singles, and free online video games. For middle aged users it is wrinkle creme, finish your degree ad's, and explanations of health care plans. These sites are so popular and effective because the offer a solution to the problem of making an actual effort to contact friends. Being connected to them all the time through these sites offers a venue that is seen as cool because everyone else is doing it. While these sites may take up time that could be used more productively, how can more than 400 million people be wrong?

Pranking as Rhetorical Criticism

The use of prank calls to live television shows is a good example of how to give a simplistic rhetorical analysis of discourse that you disagree with. In the case of this blog, a live television show called Brainstorms. The TV show is called Brainstorms aired in 2002. It was a show hosted by an unkempt man called Jack Jersawitz who would talk about and support many controversial ideas within the United States. During the show he would discuss these ideas and then take live phone calls to receive input from his at home viewing audience. Because of his extreme statements he would often receive several phone calls that were aimed to either make fun of him, or what he was talking about. Even though many of these callers were just trying to be funny, they did not realize that they were actively participating in a rhetorical critique. They often call to insult him personally. These phone calls are hurting his ethos's as a figure that people can relate to and partake information from with credibility. Because the audience does not support his claims they aim to make a mockery of him in attempts to embarrass him. By embarrassing him for his extreme statements they are taking away from his ethos's and seriousness of his attitude towards the topics presented. The audience members doing these calls are giving their analyses of how they think he and his topics of discussion are ridiculous by acting in a rebellious manner that upsets the host, but even makes the crew members in the back laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzPr7Tu27-4

Jim Carrey's tooth is not the only Split in his life.

ABC.com Just released information that Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy have just broken off their five year relationship with each other. While this may seem as no big deal to some, it provides a reason for examination with me. The reason why I am examining this article is because the first group of people to find out about this were on the social networking site Twitter. It is amazing the role these social networking sites are playing within the peoples lives. You could argue that they are using this medium to get the word out before all the tabloids start making up stories, which I am sure they will do anyway. But the fact that such mega corporations as ABC are now relying on Twitter to get stories about today's celebrities is humorous to me. Twitter is something I have never been interested in because I have no involvement with it so I am in a type of counterculture with this group. At one point I swore up and down that I would never have Face book and that I hated texting, but now I do it all the time. I assure you never in class, but still quite a bit. Twitter has fallen within the realm of "Cool Culture" in today's society and surely will continue to before the next new cool system arises. I idea of letting everyone know what you are doing is great to some and scary to the rest. Obviously in this case it is a tool for greatness. When you have ABC using your product for celebrity information, your in like Flinn!