Grid

Artifact beliefs Myth Hero setting Ritual Stereotype formulas
Spiderman Only a superhero can save the day when endangered by a villain. The superhero defeats villain to save town while obtaining the love of the girl Peter Parker
(Spiderman) Set in present day America. An urban city setting. (2002) When given the power, you must use it for good and not evil The super hero defeats the super villain • Man becomes superhero
• Attempts to use power for good
• Love conflict with girl
• Fights evil super-villain to save world/city/girl
Little Miss Sunshine
(Watched) An over-complicated family with multiple differences can unite as a happy family The struggles of lower-middle class families are in vain The uniting family. (each family member) Based In NM, but filmed throughout a road-trip Dysfunctional family rallies around a common goal and unites Few stereotypes. Most attributes are fairly creative • Unique family compiled of different characters

• Family overcomes differences and bad times to unite as one.
Superman A superhero is needed to combat evil forces against the world/city. The superhero defeats villain with given powers to save humanity Clark Kent
(Superman) Set in a busy American city. Present day for the most part. (1978-early ‘90s) Your power must be used for good for the protection against evil The super hero defeats the super villain • Born a superhero
• Uses power for the good of humanity
• Disguised as a human
• Relationship with human
• Saves the world from some form of evil
Shrek The ogre is viewed as a monster because of stereotype and begins to act as a monster The social differences of Shrek and the princess keep them apart. Shrek Set in a medieval fairytale world. Don’t judge someone based on stereo The ogre is viewed as a monster because • An ogre viewed as monster.
• Lives in peace
• Pressured to rescue a princess
• Ends up falling in love with princess
Commonalities
In each column The belief, in the end, tends to be predominately positive. All have some form of obstacle that is being conquered All are characters in the films. For the most part the main characters All set in a society that has visible classes and differences. (mortality, economic, biological) Even with the presence of adversity, there is always a plausible positive ending Society has been constructed to hold each instance in it’s place.
(resisting change) • Adversity
• Fight through adversity
• Happy ending

Weekly Analysis 5

Weekly Analysis: New Found Glory

This week I will be writing about the pop punk band New Found Glory. They are a band that broke out in the midst of the pop punk explosion. They where a band that was discovered by another pop punk band Blink 182 and they toured with them as well. Blink 182 gave them the opportunity that they may not have had otherwise. New Found Glory became friends with the members of Blink 182 and they almost became a pop punk tag team. They paved the way for many other pop punk bands to come into the scene.

The music they play is very melodic, catchy punk style music. It was a very mellow yet fast paced style, much like their friends Blink 182. They had a very similar style to Blink 182, maybe in part due to the fact they were from California as well. They came from the same general area and as we know, location has a lot to do with style of music. This area produced many of todays, and yesterday’s top pop punk bands, and Blink 182 and New Found Glory were much to credit for this.

New Found Glory is made up of Jordan, Steve, Chad, Ian and Cyrus. They are a bunch of goofy, fun loving, crazy guys. The music they play definitely reflects them as people. They are about having fun and doing what you want to do. They went for their dreams ad made it and they want you to do the same. This message really caught on and it helped pave the way for pop punk to take center stage in pop culture.

Assignment 1-3 Journal Analysis

Journal Article Analysis

The article that I will be analyzing is South Park Philosophy. This article breaks down why the show “South Park” is a huge part of our popular culture. The show has been on for ten seasons and is still going strong today. The show is based on four kids in the town of South Park, Colorado. The show is very vulgar and opinionated on today’s top issues. They share their political and popular culture views on the show as well. They will attack anything and everything and that is one reason why they have captivated the audiences of America. They are not afraid to voice their opinion about anything and it mostly concerns pop culture and politics. It is fascinating how they themselves use the popular culture to voice their opinions (often distaste) about popular culture. It is almost an irony all in itself.

The intended audience of this article is anyone with an interest in the show South Park or anyone with an interest in the effects of popular culture. The article gives some insight into the show but mainly focuses on how it uses its platform of popular culture to voice their opinions. You can tell that this article could appeal to both audiences because it gives good insight as to how the show is viewed in the eyes of the popular culture and how it has affected it so greatly. The article does not really use subject specific language. In this regard they have stayed very general. This sentence shows the type of language in the article, “By pointing out the radically different political views of the show and their implications, as in Paul Cantor’s essay on South Park’s economic views, Kevin Murtagh’s essay on blasphemous humor, and Jacob Held’s essay on South Park and the gay marriage debate, the book positions the cartoon as both an important cultural artifact and an example of how popular culture can actively intervene in social struggles.” As one can see, it is very general and not subject specific.

This article shows that South Park is a show that is able to sustain itself as a popular culture entity by being able to touch a broad spectrum of people. By doing this it is able to gain popularity. People really connect to the opinions of the show and find themselves learning about things they might not have thought about before. This in itself is one of the great things about the show. It allows those people that don’t normally think about the current issues about pop culture or politics to actually view an opinion of another and then begin to learn about it. It gives the general public a way to at least become knowledgeable of the current issues and whether they would like to go research it more. The people who normally view this show are older teenagers to mid twenties people. This demographic is not one to take a political role or take a stance on viewing popular culture from an issue standpoint. That is why this show reaches out to those and gets them thinking. It is important because this demographic makes up most of the popular culture scene.

The article states the importance of the show in popular culture. It is stated as, “it fills an enormous gap in popular culture studies on South Park. The program has only been discussed in a handful of articles and a small section of one book (the myopically partisan South Park Conservatives). More importantly, this book demonstrates that the cartoon, after ten seasons, a major film release, several awards (including a Peabody), and many public battles over censorship, cultural politics, and intellectual property rights, is simply too complex to be placed into any one category.” It goes on to state how this show is opening the minds of those who watch it and make a difference on how people view the popular culture today.
The article is organized fairly well. It breaks it down into introducing the show and what it is. Then it goes into how the show is affecting the popular culture. Then it begins to explain how the show is changing the face of popular culture and how it is opening the minds of people. It ends on the importance of the show on the popular culture.

The key idea of the article is that South Park is an important artifact in the world of popular culture. It has been able to do what so many have not been able to and that is to get the general public to think and research about the current issues in pop culture and politics. It is able to reach out to so many people and it is able to say anything about anything or anyone. The show is able to take a very simple and vulgar show and insert some opinions that will open the minds of many people.

References

South Park and Philosophy. Ed. Robert Arp. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing, 2006. Issue: 4 (August 2007: pp. 583 – 759). http://0-journals.ohiolink.edu.olinkserver.franklin.edu/ejc/pdf.cgi/EJC_Article.pdf?issn=00223840&issue=v40i0004&article=744_spap

Week Analysis 4: Usher

Weekly Analysis: Usher

This week I will be writing about Usher. I know he isn’t in the alternative music genre per se, but I was inspired after watching one of his performances. He has been a huge part of pop culture for about 10 years now. He has been one of the most talented and gifted musicians to cross America’s path since Michael Jackson. He can sing and dance better than anyone I have ever seen since Michael Jackson. That style of music and entertainment had left for awhile and I feel that Usher has brought it back to the pop world.

Usher seems to be loved by almost anyone. I have yet to see too many people dislike Usher or his entertainment value. I think this may be because he is so talented at what he does and it is so genuine and pure. Everyone can see his gift in action when he performs and every time I have seen him he has amazed me. He really is the epitome of the pop culture. Everything he does people likes, he never seems to get into trouble or start anything negative. He just shares his gifts with the world and everyone is glad to watch him. That’s when you know you are a pop star, when anyone from any type of background can enjoy what you do. I know many people like myself, don’t really care for R & B music but still we enjoy to watch him. He has started this new trend of style in which the likes of Chris Brown and Ne-Yo have come to light in his path. They both are very talented and have already made their impact on the pop world, which would not be possible without Usher or Michael Jackson paving the way.

Weekly Analysis: Fall Out Boy

So far I have been fairly negative towards the music of today. I figured I would switch gears this week and go with something that I actually like. I would like to talk about Fall Out Boy. I have liked Fall Out Boy since their album “Take This to Your Grave” and I knew then that they would be a big hit. I liked their sound and I liked the band members. Their music was a very catchy pop-punk style. It is not just their music that is so likeable but the band members are as well, and this is a big reason why they are so huge today. I remember when they were not that big and you could tell that were going to be, but they were different than most. They are genuine and unique. They seem to get what it is all about, they don’t care about the money or the fame, they just want to make good music and have fun. This is the right way to go about having a band. It shouldn’t be made into a job, it should be something that is done to have fun, get a message out and for others to enjoy. If your band is good enough and liked enough they will become famous. I could tell after seeing interviews with them and going to their show that they truly are genuine about the music and having a good time and that is why I like them.

They have been very heavy in pop culture lately. A lot of people now know who they are as compared to when I knew about them when they were still breaking out. What has fascinated me about them is that they have maintained their self image. They have never fallen victim to “selling out.” They have stayed themselves and these days that is hard to find. The funny thing is, is that they are fairly famous and most might not know the band members that much because they are so low key, other than Pete Wentz of course. He is now with Ashlee Simpson and recently had a baby. He is the more outgoing and social of the band mates and takes hold of the spotlight. He is the one that is different from the rest, he plays more of the outcast but is more mainstream than the others. He still has stuck to his guns though and I admire that. He has always been that way and probably always will be.

For the most part, Fall Out Boy is a great and genuine band that everyone can love and enjoy. They have stuck to what they know and that is to make good music and to just have fun and enjoy making music. It is hard to find a band these days that exhibit these qualities in the pop culture we live in today.

Weekly Analysis: All American Rejects

For this week I have chosen to write about the All American Rejects and the experience I had with their show. I was at Warped Tour in 2007 and the All American Rejects were there. I unfortunately was unable to avoid their show. I was in line waiting for an autograph session with Atreyu and the All American Rejects were playing on the stage behind me. Since it was a long line, I caught most of their set. I noticed a couple of things in this experience. I know that this band is popular and I have never known why. I honestly never gave them a chance and on this day I was unable to avoid it. So, needless to say I gave them a chance.

The crowd was mainly composed of teenagers and predominately girls. They seemed to be a very normal crowd. They seemed to be very into the show, and they mainly just jumped around. The band itself sounded terrible to me. They seemed to not be very technically sound at all. It was as if they had forgotten how to play the songs. This really told me that they don’t take their music very seriously or else they would have their songs perfected to sound just like the CD. They owe it to their fans to at least sound good. They bought the tickets to see you and all you have to do is play your music, and to me, they sounded terrible. I tried to be as objective as possible and they still sounded off. Maybe they just had a bad day, I don’t know.
The lead singer kept talking to the crowd and that is where I completely lost all interest. He kept yelling out to the crowd to get up, mosh, while using some rough language. I couldn’t believe the language he used. He even went as far to tell ask the ladies to go crazy and to take their tops off. I absolutely could not believe this. He should know what type of crowd he had in front of him. Most of the crowd was comprised of teenage girls and this is definitely not the language to be using nor is there any place appropriate to ask such things of the crowd. I found all this weird because they acted as if it was a very hard metal show. They acted as if they were the stereotypical metal band with what they said and acted as on stage.

I thought this was pretty funny because they are far from metal. I think that because they are a “rebel” pop band that they have to uphold their image as such when in reality they are about the opposite. They seemed to have a terrible idea of what the metal or “rebel” band is about because I have been to many and none of the bands had acted as terribly as that. My experience with this pop band was that they are all about their image and not the music. They don’t care about their fans or the music; they just want to get paid. They forgot what the pop punk genre was all about. Again, this was just a onetime experience and this is just my opinion.

Icon Analysis

For my 3 contemporary icons I have chosen: The Hills, The Office, South Park.

I have chosen The Hills which is a television show that is about the lives of overly wealthy and privileged kids. The Office is exactly as it sounds, it is a show about an office based in Scranton, PA. South Park is a cartoon of kids in a small town and it pokes fun at current issues.

I chose The Hills because I have noticed just how popular this show has become, especially those in their late teens and early 20's. This show seems to be taking over the young adults of America. They have become so consumed with this show and I really can't see why. Watching uninteresting people was never a passion of mine, but people like what they like I guess. I wanted to possibly delve into the why of people watching this. These people have not accomplished anything in their lives to deserve a television show except for being born rich. This just leads to people thinking that they are better than others by just being more financially wealthy.

The reason I chose The Office is because it is a comedic phenomena. It had brought a different type of humor to the public eye. It has brought an intelligent yet immature, type of humor to the television. It has become so popular among the public despite a trial season in it's first season. They only contracted 8 trial episodes for the 1st season because they didn't know how well it would be taken by the public. It has shed a light on the middle class office setting and shed some humor on it as well. One doesn't have to be an office worker to enjoy this show, but is much better if you do.

I have chosen South Park because not only is it a icon of pop culture, it uses it to it's advantage. It pokes fun at all the current issues of the world. They do not hold back on anything, and that is the great thing about it. They pick fun at the pop culture when they themselves are a part of it. It is kind of ironic but it happens to work for the show.

The Hills to me is almost everything that is wrong with America. I know that this is the land of opportunity and yet these kids have got a great opportunity for doing absolutely nothing. I never knew that no-talent could get you so far. That is where I feel the pop culture is going. We are rewarding the untalented, and the non-hardworkingr. People have never been able to get so much by doing so little. This show just shows that if you're rich you can do anything and it just leads to people thinking that being rich is the only thing that is important. This just makes the social classes so much worse. People start looking down on people for their financial status and that is terrible. Apparently these people create drama that the general public likes. I see drama everyday and that drama actually matters. There is nothing appealing to the weak drama that that this show brings. If you wan't to see drama watch a middle class man or woman work for a living trying to pay for their kids to get better oppurtunities, that is real drama. Let the rich get richer right.

The Office is one of my favorite shows. It has shown me that a dry and sarcastic humor can be hilarious. The show is so intelligent with its jokes and humor but yet they are so immature at the same time. I didn't know that combining intelligence and immature could work but they pull it off. They also create the most awkward situations which are hilarious, because we have all been in them and we know they are no fun. The show really is able to make the relationships work and it as great to see. I am an office worker and that definitely helps the cause, because they are spot on with the way they demonstrate office life. I love this show because it has brought something different to the public and me. They have brought a new wave of humor and it has caught on.

South Park to me is a pop culture icon, but uses its popularity to portray its views on pop culture. They literally leave no topic unturned. It is good that uses its forum to open people's minds. I know this sounds weird, but it does present topics that the normal viewers would never be encountered with. Even though they are being silly and poking fun, it still gets a person to question and think about the issues discussed. This is better than not thinking at all I uess. I don't agree with all their views but it always at least makes me think about the issues regardless of how silly the show is.