Assignment 4-3 Weekly Written Analysis

Currently in the news we are hearing the details of Mel Gibson’s private relationship with his soon to be ex wife Oksana.

We are being bombarded on a daily basis with his words of hatred and violence towards her.

Mel Gibson has been a celebrity his entire adult life. He is an actor, director, and producer of movies. He has been hailed the sexiest man alive by People magazine even. He has starred in and made mega huge movies in Hollywood, and has been considered a power player in his business. He was married for years to the same woman, having many children together, and living what appeared to be charmed life. His morals always appeared high and consistent with what middle America values. He was not only a celebrity, but even somewhat of a hero to some I am sure.

Hero’s and celebrity’s are similar in that they are both celebrated individuals. Hero’s are celebrated for doing something of greatness, or for having qualities that make them worthy of admiration. A celebrity is an individual that is celebrated for the mere fact of being known or famous in popular culture.

Mel Gibson’s recent actions in the news have pretty much sealed his fate. He is no longer being held to the high standards he once was, and I’m sure he never will be again. As I write that, I almost don’t fully believe my own words, because we have a history of forgiving even the most unthinkable acts committed by celebrities.

Time will tell what effect his recent transgressions will have on his future celebrity status.

Assignment 3-1 Weekly Written Analysis

The OLD and the NEW Brawny ... still the same message ...



Have you ever seen the Brawny Man? The burly lumberjack who comes in to save the day?

This advertising image has been around for years, and has undergone some change, but the bottom line is the stereotypical message that a woman needs a man, even when it comes to how successfully she cleans her own kitchen.


The most recent commercial depicts the lumberjack “Brawny Man” watching over her, offering her, his help to the tune of the old song “Lean on Me”. It’s cute and catchy, and I must say, they did improve upon his looks, the whole idea and concept is corny.


The bottom line is he creates a better, stronger, paper towel to help women get through their long, dreary, helpless days of house cleaning and child rearing (insert sarcasm).

Weekly Written Analysis 2

This week I am going to talk about the latest controversry on the reality series The Bachelor. The Bachelor is a reality show where at the end, the supposed prize is a proposal, followed by a wedding and a happily ever after fairy tale life with The Bachelor.


Last season Jake and Vienna were the final couple standing to become engaged before the world. After several short months in the spot light they recently broke up. The break up led to a massive media blitz by both sides. Part of this coverage was a sit down interview with the host of the show to discuss what went wrong.


What went wrong was the myth that two people could get to know each well enough to create a romantic relationship strong enough to sustain a relationship created out of falsehoods.


Both Vienna and Jake felt they were in love and believed in this love until the myth of the promise of love on television proved to be untrue. Now that they are no longer together neither one of them has a kind word to say about the other.


Our culture is conditioned to want to see and know more about what really happened and who was really at fault and why. This is also backed up by their faces being plastered with headlines of the break up on every tabloid you could find. I for one hope that their 15 minutes of fame is over … of course not before I tuned in to hear what really went wrong as well!

Assignment 2-2 Icon Analysis

The first icon I chose was Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey came from very humble beginnings, born to a teenage, single mother in 1954. She had a difficult upbringing and was raised by several different family members. She started out in journalism and reporting, and eventually became the world wide icon she is today. There is much coverage currently about child actress turned singer and teen actress, and finally turn young adult actress, Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay got her start in show business at young age, most notable playing twins in the movie Parent Trap. She is very well known, both for having a great deal of success as a young child, to being known today as a child star turned bad girl. Finally, the current music industry “IT” boy, Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber is a 16 year old Canadian musician, songwriter and singer. He became an internet sensation when his mom posted videos of him just playing guitar and singing at home.

I chose these three contemporary icons each for different reasons. I chose Oprah Winfrey for her mega success throughout so many areas in her life. Lindsay Lohan because she was an actress who I once admired and who sense I can barely tolerate hearing about. And Justin Bieber because of the media frenzy he creates is an interesting statement on what draws young fans to pop sensations today.

Oprah Winfrey has always been a fascinating person to me. She came from very humble beginning, and tremendous hardship. She overcame these obstacles and worked her way up in the journalism arena to become a multi-media mogul. She is an inspiration in perseverance, and her philanthropy is very admirable in a world where greed and envy can sometimes over rule all things good. Lindsay Lohan is an interesting example of how people in trouble can easily become a fascination in our culture. Lindsay started in show business very young, and had success very early in life. This, along with a notably unstable family life, has led her personal and professional life down a bumpy road. She was just in the news a great deal this past week for violating her probation conditions and is sent to jail to serve 90 days. Justin Bieber is interesting to me mostly because I have two sons who listen to his music. Through them I have learned more about his upbringing in a small town in Canada, and how he was discovered online through viral videos. It is always interesting to watch a person rise from a “normal” life and circumstances to become an overnight sensation such as he has. It will be even more interesting to see how long his fame lasts.

Weekly Written Analysis 1

The popular culture topic I am going to be analyzing each week is our cultures growing obsession with vampires. Vampire books, vampire movies, vampire television shows, vampire books made into vampire movies – you name it and you can find it if it has anything to do with vampires.


Interest in vampires is not something new, but it is definitely on the rise in the last decade. One of the original vampires was created from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.


Currently in the news is all of the media attention of the Twilight book series and the subsequent movies, Twilight, New Moon, and just released this month, Eclipse. With one more in the series, time will soon tell just how big the obsession has gotten.


Along with the Twilight series, television show such as True Blood and The Vampire Diaries are huge successes with large followings.


That is start of my vampire blogging … more to come soon!



References
Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common Culture. New Jersey: Pearson.

Assignment 1-2 Popular Culture Blog

What is popular culture? There a different ways to define pop culture in our society. Pop culture, as the name indicates, refers to what is popular in our culture currently. It can encompass different areas of our society, such as trends in fashion, politics, music, art, even shopping. The Oxford Pocket Dictionary defines pop culture as “n. commercial culture based on popular taste.” (The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English: Pop Culture, 2009)

I like to keep up and follow pop culture trends. I am not a trendy person, and I usually wait to purchase trendy items, or to try new things. Even with this being the case for myself, I enjoy knowing what is new, upcoming, an popular in our culture.

It is important to be aware of popular culture in a business environment. For sales, it is meaningful to have a solid understand of what consumers are looking for to meet the demands. Trends in buying, spending, usage, are all important factors for businesses to be aware. Employees can benefit by being aware of trends in popular culture in relation to what employers are looking for as far as trends in education and training. For example, popular trends in types of software and technology, would be beneficial if the employer is looking for specific skills and knowledge that are popular at the moment.

An example of an artifact from popular culture would be the TV show Happy Days. This popular television show depicted life in the suburbs in the 1950’s and included many examples of life during this era.