495.. my final post!

As this semester comes to a close, I am happy to say that I have actually enjoyed myself in this class. I enjoyed the teaching style, definitely laidback and very relaxing, which is nice after the last 4 years of stress. After this semester, I plan on taking a while off from school. Although, I have to finish up a class over summer, I plan on taking a year off (only because I missed the deadline), then applying to the graduate program at CSUN. It will be nice to have some time off for a change. I hope that when I come back I will be refreshed and ready to attack the program. I was thinking about taking some courses, maybe 1 or 2 in the fall and spring to just keep up with my studious ways. Anyways, I thought I would go through ever section that we had in class, and make a few final comments about everything.

First up is the dreaded “Poetry” section. All I can say is that I really don’t like poetry, and I don’t like writing it even more. And, if you can believe it, even more then I hate writing poetry, I hate presenting poetry that I have written. But I was able to do all of that thanks to Dr. Wexler. And although my poetry might have been lacking a little bit, I wrote from my heart and I had fun with that. I guess that is one thing that I can appreciate the most about this semester; I was really taken out of my comfort zone. I tend to be a really quiet person with not much to say, but this time around it was a little different. I can dig it.

The next section we did was “World Mythology”, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was very interesting to get the different stories from the different groups. My favorite was the video that was made for “The Castle in the Lake”. That was an amazingly original video, and it kept our attention while we learned about the myth. But what I really liked from this section was my group. We all got along very well and decided to break into smaller groups and do our work. It was really easy and actually a lot of fun to do those assignments.

Onto the next one, “Digital Literacies”. To be honest, I don’t even really remember this section. All I know is that our presentation was off because of the time rush, but it was still fun. The group we had for this one started off rough, but in the end it was a really good group and I was happy to have met the people that I did. During this time, there was so much going on with my other classes that I feel as though this whole section was a blur.

And my favorite and last section, “World Text”. The movie was good, the classes were good, and this was just a really good section. Although my paper on it (which you can locate a few blog posts down) seems a little fragmented, I enjoyed writing it. I could go on and on about this section because there is so much to talk about. However, like all good things, this section and this semester are now over. This has honestly been one of the best and quickest semesters that I’ve had in a while. I’m a little sad it is over, but life goes on. I wish everyone a very successful and long life. I hope that life takes you all exactly where you want it. :D

...yeah, RIGHT!

 

Facebook!

Lets face it, almost all of us have a facebook.. and if we don't, chances are we have had one in the past.  Facebook is something that connects people from all over the world, it is insane how many people are actually active on facebook.  Personally speaking, I found my biological father on facebook, and with him I was able to locate his parents as well as 2 sisters and a brother I never knew I had.  Facebook can be seen as something that is very useful.  It is easy to chat with people on there that normally you wouldn't, but to me that would just be like a fake friend.  I don't talk to people on facebook that I wouldn't in real life if I saw them. 

Who would have thought that we could connect so many different theories to facebook.  I have to say that by the end of the presentation,  my head was spinning (although, that could just be from 3 hours of talking about facebook).  One of the most shocking things to me was the fact that so many people use facebook games, and not only do they use them, but the extremes that they go to for them is ridiculous.  The man who actually spent money on what he called "duck poop" totally shocked me.  I did not know that so many people were buying into these games.  And facebook is doing well with them since they get a large chunk of the profits. 

The one and only negative thing I have to say about this issue on facebook was that I was a little put off by the assumptions about gender that was brought up.  There was a difference of opinion with the class, but it was made to seem that most every girl has nothing but oversexed pictures featuring the "duck lips" above.  As I scroll through my friends list, I notice while yes there are some women who pose this way and "sex up" a little, most of my facebook "friends" are very respectable women who show that in their pictures.  In fact, most of the women on my friends list have pictures with their cap and gowns because of graduation.  I could just be a "sensitive Sally", but I  thought that was just a very broad assumption that could have been a very interesting argument if it was brought up in a better way.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE FINAL

Michelle Thomas

April 30^th, 2012

English 495

Globalization in Slumdog Millionaire

Being part of Western culture often blinds us from the reality of other cultures around the world.  Some of our most popular ideals from Western culture greatly influence other cultures globally.  The 2008 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle, follows a young man named Jamal and the controversial experiences he faces while living in the slums of India.  Jamal is accused of cheating while on a game show, and he is forced to recount different tragic memories he has experienced throughout his life despite being deprived of education, parents, and wealth.  The film demonstrates how Jamal progresses as a person through the experiences he faces, and defines the different factors that contributes to his personal development.  In the film, the Western influence is very defined, and this is shown through Jamal’s character.  Throughout the film it is evident that capital fuels India as it rapidly evolves into an industrialized country, which is an asset to everyone, not excluding Jamal.  Through the article “Where did the Future Go” by Randy Martin, the book A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey, and the film Slumdog Millionaire, globalization and its effects are illustrated along side the devastating effects Neoliberalism has in India.

            In Harvey’s book, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, he states, “while many general accounts of global transformations and their effects are now available, what is generally missing––is the political-economic story of where neoliberalization came from and how it proliferated so comprehensively on the world stage” (4).  The world as a whole is changing, molding and taking influence from many different places.  This ever-changing theme be seen in the film through the globalization India faces, namely due to the Western cultures’ influence.  Globalization affects many different cultures and thus many different individuals everyday.  Through the ongoing globalization in different countries, many different opportunities have presented themselves in these countries that otherwise would not have presented themselves.  No matter how many positive aspects globalizing economies bring to people living there, there are also bad qualities that come along with it.  The rich only get wealthier, while the poor keep dwindling down, and essentially cuts out a middle class altogether.  The neoliberalist effect on the global market has only helped make more billionaires, and help existing billionaires grow wealthier, leaving everyone else struggling to survive.  This can be seen globally with the issue of the 99% and the 1%; only 1% of the world is not struggling to survive, while the other 99% often have nowhere to turn.  Throughout the film, there is a very distinct difference between how the wealthy live, and the conditions the poor individuals are seemingly stuck in; the wealthy being the 1% and the poor being the 99%.  The images throughout the film show the slums and how the people in the slums were forced to live; this did not affect the wealthier people of the country. 

            Within the recent years, India has become rapidly globalized.  Examples of this globalization can be seen in the film through different avenues, such as the various questions on the game show, the Coke offered to the boys soon after they lost their mother, and the idolizing of the celebrity when the boys were young.  These different examples really exemplify the ever-changing environment, and with this comes different scenes in the film that emulate the Western culture in Jamal’s native country of India.  One example can be seen when Jamal and his brother Salim impersonate tour guides at the Taj Mahal to help bring in money so that they can survive.  The boys end up stealing shoes from tourists and then selling them, promoting the fact that they are American shoes in hopes to bring in more money.  This proves that products that originate from the Western culture are both desirable and can be seen as a symbol of wealth and power if one owns them.  With this comes the reasoning behind why the boys are impersonating these people, in order to obtain capital and help better their chances of survival.  In the scene of the film where Jamal is being beaten in front of American tourists he screams, “You wanted to see the real India?  Here it is!”  The tourists respond to this by giving Jamal money and saying to him, “here’s a bit of the real America, son.”  The real India that Jamal refers to indicates that India is not only a poverty-ridden country, but also a violent one.  With the American tourists response of giving money it could be argued that the United States is a wealthy and capitalist nation, where most problems can be resolved with money.  This is where the line between the poor and the wealthy widens even more; the wealthy can afford to give away money while the poor are forced to go to extreme measures to obtain money.  This comes back to how neoliberalism affects the global market.  In his book, Harvey states:

Economic globalization has entered a new phase. A mounting backlash against its effects, especially in the industrial democracies, is threatening a disruptive impact on economic activity and social stability in many countries. The mood in these democracies is one of helplessness and anxiety, which helps explain the rise of a new brand of populist politicians. (81).

This scene in the film is describing what Harvey is stating when he talks about how the stability of these countries being affected by globalization is at risk.  This trickles down to affect most everyone, including the man beating Jamal.  Arguably, the man’s character can be seen as representing the whole country of India, lashing out against the constant Western influence, an influence that can be seen in Jamal’s character.

            As the film comes to a close and both Jamal and Salim look at the industrialized land that once was their home, it becomes obvious that the people with whom they used to share these living conditions with are no longer present in this area.  It is unclear as to what has become of these people; they have been forgotten and discarded because they failed to keep up with the ever-changing globalization of India.  Everyone who could not keep up has moved on, an idea for which Martin states, “For those workers of the world who could secure a seat on the bus, the trip to tomorrow would take them to a market utopia.”  This idea is one of the saddest realizations of the ever changing globalizing economy, not everyone who grew up in slums similar to Jamal and Salim had the chance to use this new “market utopia” to prosper.  These people were at a disadvantage when they were born to poor families, because children that lived in these areas were not given the proper education that would help them to succeed in these new businesses that are taking over the slums. Harvey notes how the trend of the neoliberalism taking place in India has been commonly perceived that “if conditions among the lower classes deteriorated, this was because they failed, usually for personal and cultural reasons, to enhance their own human capital (through dedication to education, the acquisition of a Protestant work ethic, submission to work discipline and flexibility, and the like).”   So with the ideals of neoliberalism in mind, the people who could not keep up had no one to blame but themselves.  However, with no resources available to help better the people in the slums, it is next to impossible for them to obtain any sort of education or flexibility when it comes to work.   It is unsaid in the film what has become of these displaced people, but their homes have been destroyed and transformed to help benefit the owners of these businesses, who do not need the help the original inhabitants did.  This area that used to be the only place the poor could afford to live has become a place that they could no longer bear the expense to live in.

            No matter which way a person looks, globalization is unavoidable and is very present and constant in our everyday lives.  The molding earth and neoliberalism can essentially be summarized by one of the films last scenes, when Salim and Jamal are reunited and Salim states,  “That used to be our slum. Can you believe that? We used to live right there. Now, it’s all business. India is at the center of the world now. And I am at the center of the center.”  This quote shows how globalized India has become, and how humans are front and center of this change.  The slums as the boys knew it has been transformed and made into these businesses, in just a matter of a few short years.  The Western influence is present throughout the film, even with the “happily ever after” ending.  Capital is the fuel behind the fire in India, and a person is expected to either keep up with the changes or become displaced and forgotten about.  With the help of Randy Martin’s article and David Harvey’s text, the perception of Slumdog Millionaire has changed from a harsh tale of reality to a critical view of the world as globalization and neoliberal practices take over.

Works Cited

Harvey, David.  A Brief History of Neoliberalism.  Oxford: Oxford University Press,        

                      2005.  Print. 

Martin, Randy.  “Where Did The Future Go?”  Logos 5.1 (2006): n. pag.  Web.  29 April

            2012. 

Slumdog Millionaire.  Dir. Danny Boyle.  Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros.        

                     Pictures, 2009.  DVD. 

A picture of how India's slums are in present time.

I could never imagine having to live like this.

495 catch up-- globalization (do you notice a pattern?)

This week we really started to look into globalization as well as different theorists such as Marx and Weber, and comparing it to different things. We watched more of Slumdog Millionaire, which was slightly disappointing. The way the movie ended left me with so many unanswered questions. It did not explain what happened to Salim, let alone the children that were being used and blinded to help rake in more money. The whole Happily Ever After thing is so overrated and used so much. It just goes to show how our Western ideals cannot escape anyone. To see just how globalized the world is brings a lot of my thoughts as to how much different cultures are affected by this. I especially like the scene where Jamal and Salim are looking down in the slums and thinking about how different their lives are now and how much the slums have changed in just a few short years. I guess on my next blog post I will talk about that more since it will be my actual paper.
I feel like this class and pop-culture are starting to merge together. We watched Lost in Translation in this class as well, well clips of it at least. This was just to help show how globalized and urbanized the whole world is becoming. One day soon I will actually watch this entire movie so I have more to say on it other than Bill Murray is a very funny man.

313 catch up-- globalization and such

This week for class we talked about urbanization and we continued our discussion from last week at what is modern and what is postmodern. It was interesting because we looked at the city of New York as well as the city of Los Angeles and had a discussion at which was is considered “post-modern” and which one is considered modern. Obviously with New York being more organized than LA, it is considered to be modern. Since there is the fact that Los Angeles is fragmented just means that it is considered to be a post-modern city. Seeing it from this perspective really helps to understand that there is a definite distinction between what is considered modern and what is considered post-modern.

We also watch Rebel without a Cause, which was probably the birthplace of “cool”. Perhaps this is a practice of the old world order, sacrificing life for nobility, vs. the new world disorder, risking your life as a pastime. This shows that the strict-ness of a family unit causes kids to rebel, and it also embodies the new viewpoints on divorce. How there is an increase in the divorce rate because now it is easier than ever for women to provide for themselves. We also viewed some of the movie Lost in Translation, which was very cool because I have been wanting to see that movie for a while now. I never have seen the whole thing, and I wish we had more time in class to actually watch a whole movie. But, nonetheless, it was pretty cool to watch at least part of it. It shows the globalization of Tokyo, and the fact that transnational corporations now overrun it. It has “American music” in a Westernized world, which also goes hand in hand with a paper I am writing about Slumdog Millionaire.

The last thing we got to discuss before we had to leave class for the night was Disney, and how much of a corrupt thing it has become. Disney just basically takes everyone’s money… and gives little in return. Personally, I love Disney.. and I love going to Disneyland.. I even have an annual pass. However, every time I go it gets more and more expensive and I spend way more money than the last time I went. If a theme park can spend 40,000$ a night on fireworks alone, it just goes to show how much capital they are raking in daily.

495 catch up-- Presentations and Slumdog

We did a lot this week. Not only did we complete our group presentation on email and how we would teach it, but we also examined the movie Slumdog Millionaire. So here is my blog about those two things:
The presentation went well. We had a lot of time to do it, however I personally lacked the motivation. Senioritis is really kicking my butt lately. However, we got it done, but we had to cut a lot of things out per Dr. Wexler’s request to save time. I get that we needed to get it done and over with for the sake of time, however I think our grade might have been a little effected by it. Anyways, an A is an A, and I cannot argue percents, because at that point it just seems like I’m being a big baby.
Slumdog Millionaire was a great film, although we only got to see nearly half. I went out and bought the film that very day after I got done with school and work. I watched it and I could not believe how amazing the film was. I’m not sure why I never had watched it before, but I am glad that I got a chance to watch it now. I have been thinking a lot about the paper that we have coming up, and what exactly to write about. I have some ideas in mind, and I have already started it. I honestly just cannot wait for this semester to be over. I want to be finished already!

313 catch up-- Annie Hall

Forgive me if this is fragmented and not completely ‘there’ in a sense. I am playing blog catch up for the past few weeks, and I am using muscle memory at this point. For this week, we were to read Barker’s piece on Post-Modernism. The lecture for this week was all over the place with connections. I love that we make so many different connections in class, I know some people find this frustrating, but I think the more ways we can connect things then the more people will understand in the end. So we got a hand out on postmodernism vs. modernism, and we were asked to see what Annie Hall was – Postmodern, or modern? We looked at the master/slave relationship, and different avenues you can see it in. IE man/woman, race, ect. This was a normative thing throughout society, and this can still be seen in today’s world. We also looked at World War I as being a “modern war” due to the use of different technologies, and destruction and massive death. We examined Pg. 187, the “Cultural Politics of Modernism”, examining the subjective world of angst, form lacking context, as well as realism vs. modernism.

So anyways, back to Annie Hall. This film, in my opinion, is a postmodernist film. It is very fragmented in the way the movie travels through time, as well as the film is suggestive. This movie was representative of the “radical romantic comedy” of the postmodern era. The main character, Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) was constantly facing the camera, breaking the fourth wall essentially. He turned himself into a cartoon, screen splitting, etc. There are many different avenues Allen takes when making this film, and since it is so fragmented with so many different avenues, it makes it completely postmodern. My personal favorite was the subtitles between Alvy and Annie, cutting through their conversation to show what they were really feeling inside.

 This film shows divorce now, and how it works. This was not too common before hand, but now the film shows Alvy’s failed marriages, and examines why they did not work out in the first place. Although I only saw what was shown in class, the film seemed to leave the relationship between Alvy and Annie unresolved, so maybe there was only one divorce. Either way, it really examines failed marriages and why they do not work out in the first place. Pretty cool film, I think I might check it out in my free time, because I actually enjoyed it in class.

495 catch up-- Multiliteracy Presentations

This being the week after spring break, it is so hard for me to get back into the swing of things. It must truly be senioritis after all. Anyways, this week we were supposed to do our presentation, however with a few people out of our group missing, we have opted to go next week instead. The presentations this week was pretty good. I like to see different techniques people use when presenting, and how they would approach a group that they are to teach. The GoAnimate website is a pretty good one. I like that there are more creative outlets for kids to express themselves. Not only does this help kids to be more creative, but it gives them a chance to learn something while enjoying themselves. I know that when I was younger, it would have been easier for me to learn things if I had creative outlets such as GoAnimate. Our presentation is going to be on e-mail.. Yeah, it is a little bit of a boring subject, but it is such an important aspect that I don’t think people realize. We use it for so many different things; I think it is important to teach children at a young age how to use it and different things to watch out for when pertaining to email. I can’t wait to get it over and done with, group presentations, well presentations in general, are just not really my thing.

10...... eh.

From what we saw during class, as well as some of parts I managed to find on YouTube, the movie 10 is one that I just cannot seem to connect with. The film was made well before my time, and before this class period I had never even heard of it before. Dudley Moore played the character George Webber, who was actually quite comical in the film. However, during some midlife crisis that took place, he decided that he needed to be with a certain woman, his perfect “10” if you will. What troubles me, and remember I’ve only seen what was shown in class, what is up with Samantha Taylor (played by Julie Andrews)? From the outside looking in, it looks lie they are in a relationship in which she is committed to him and she has no problems with him seeking sexual experiences with other women. She is more than the average person, she is beautiful and very smart, and so what is she doing with this guy? She is waiting for him, in bed, to have sex while he goes off to the next-door neighbors house trying to get any form of action he can. It is not until the whole “broads” conversation that she seems to get any clue about how sleazy this guy really is. She finally gives him the choice of herself, or the “broads”, leaving her with nothing else but to get her belongings and get out. She is even intruding in his sexual relation with his fantasy girl. I think she has more of a power over him then he cares or admit to himself.

Did anyone notice this, so-called, “fantasy girl”? In the movie she was Jenny Hanley, played by Bo Derek. Whose fantasy was she? She was way taller than he was (I guess if you’re into that…), and she had beads in her hair. Not just a cute accent of beading, it was almost as if a necklace exploded and wrapped into each little group of hair it could find. That would have to be the most annoying sound by your ears, and no guy could rub their fingers in your hair without getting stuck or ripping out chunks of locks. I don’t know.. if you ask me Julie Andrews would have been a better fantasy girl.. I think she is so beautiful.

I’m not sure if I would consider this a “romantic comedy”. To me this whole movie was slightly offensive to women. I think that is why I couldn’t get into it.. It was almost a movie made for men, with subtle hints that would seem like it is likeable to women. The women acted stupid. I hate when they downplay on intelligence because it kills the whole movie for me. Even the character of Sam, she was considered an educated woman, who let a man walk all over her virtually. It just did not make any sense to me.

Homework Wednesday March 14th

Recently, I had an awful experience. A friend of mine drank a lot of alcohol and decided to drive home. He hit and killed two innocent young men who were on their way home from the night shift at Wal-Mart. Days later, a coworker of mine told me that she knew someone who was hit by a drunk drive recently and died as well. I think that this is such a pressing problem in our society, more so lately than ever. This issue is killing innocent people, tearing innocent families apart, and destroying lives of people who will have to live with their decisions and the effects of it for the rest of their lives. And there is such a simple solution to this, which is very obvious, which is to not drive after consuming alcohol, PERIOD. For such a simple and breathlessly easy solution, there is more and more of this epidemic happening all around us.
It bothers me as to how I would go about solving this issue and teaching it to students. I honestly would show them videos of the devastating affect, not just wreckage of accidents, but videos of the families effected by this tragic issue. These videos will really show the long lasting and devastating aftermath of this problem, long after the event is over and done with.

Below are a couple videos I found that I think would be greatly helpful to teach students that this problem is something that is so preventable. All the lives that are destroyed are not worth it, and I think these videos will help see these things.

how ROMANTIC

So now we are done with James Bond, and it looks like we are going into Romantic Comedies. I am more for that than I am for Bond, however, the whole romantic movie thing is not for me either. I’m not sure what it is.. maybe I just don’t like anything anymore! Anyways, in trying to prepare for this section of the class, I watched “Pretty Woman” just to get a gist of the typical (and modern) romantic comedy. As hard as it could be to believe, I had never seen “Pretty Woman” before, and now I realize why. It seems as though every romantic comedy is set up in the same way (as we read in our readings):
1. Boy meets girl
2. Boy falls in love with girl
3. Boy looses girl
4. Boy regains girl
I thought maybe this was just a coincidence, or maybe we just haven’t really noticed it before, but nope… this is the SAME formula for every romantic comedy that I have seen.

So there is no point to my blog for this week, but I thought I would humor you with something I have heard recently. I was driving home from school on my hour commute late one Monday and I decided to listen to “Love Line” which comes on KROQ at 10pm. Well one girl called in with a troubling feeling that she just couldn’t take. After watching the movie “The Vow”, she just could not see how her relationship could make it. Her boyfriend of two months (that she lives with) does not have the same love for her that Channing Tatum had for Rachel McAdams in the move. He did not lust after her as Tatum did, have the passion for her as Tatum did, or even have the body that Tatum did (I threw that last one in for giggles). Anyways, there is a point to this story, I promise.
As Dr. Drew kindly replied to this young lady, “Nothing is as good as it is in the movies”. He, of course had some other sound words of advice. I think that is the main problem with some of the movies. They give people unrealistic expectations of what love is. In movies, you are only seeing the glamorous side of love, not the everyday love. Not everyday is a romantic adventure; there will always be some bad days along the way. I think that is something that all people need to realize before they see these movies, that not everything is as great as they portray it on the big screen.
And also… GAG! Who wastes their time watching these things? I guess romantic comedies are not as bad as some of the sappy movies out there, but still. I’d rather watch something else (but not James Bond).

On to the next one..

So after seeing everyone else’s presentations, I am happy to say that each one was unique and different from the rest. I cannot help it, my favorite part of the whole presentations (besides mine being over) was the video for the “sacred places” presentation. I think the whole class can agree that it was a great way of summarizing the myth without putting the class to sleep. Now I have to start to read the chapters for our new section of the digital humanities.

I have to say that this class is going a lot better than I thought it was going to go. It is very laid back and sort of a “do it yourself class”. The class is almost an independent study, which I really like because I actually like doing work on my own time and by my own rules. Lets see how the next section goes, and let’s hope it goes fast so we can enjoy our summer off from school! (For those of us who are continuing our education in the fall)!

Sacred Places

"Why do you have to come here?" asked the king in a deep voice which resembled the distant rumblings of thunder. The boy told the king his story, just as he had related it to the retainer on the shores of the lake.

Bond.... I'm glad you are over.

I would like to start off by saying how much I hope to never experience James Bond again. Possibly the movies are better than the book was, but I could hardly get through the book, let alone watch the movie. I guess there are handsome and manly men in the movies, so maybe I will give them a shot, but as far as the novels go I hope I never have to pick one up again.

The group that presented did such a good (and long) job. Who knew a group presentation could take up the whole class time! But other than the length, it was a really good presentation. I like the way that Dennis(?) started off the conversation, really engaging and working the audience. I felt bad when he asked me who my favorite Bond was.. But I think he felt even worse than I did when I said I had never seen any of the movies. But as the conversation continued, I couldn’t help but be confused by it all. I got the most basic information they were presenting on (namely on the novel we were to read), however, a lot of their discussion was based off of the movies. That really made me feels as if I had no idea how to follow the conversation, let alone engage in it since I have never seen the movies. I had to ask Holly to make sure that the movies were not part of our homework assignment as well, because if they were then I would have been way behind. I wish that the conversation was more about the book, but nonetheless, the presentation was a good one.

One of my favorite parts of the presentation was when it was brought to the classes attention of the outrageous names Ian Fleming called the women in his texts. I know that the guy was going through a divorce when he wrote this; we read that in one of the articles we were assigned. This divorce was obviously a bad one, Fleming using the oversexed James Bond as a distraction. Who knew that Fleming was so bitter that he named women ridiculous names such as Dr. Holly Goodhead, Pussy Galore, Mary Goodnight, Jenny Flex, Octopussy, and Honey Ryder. Very, very interesting names if you ask me.

One of the only things I could really follow about the presentation was the use of post-modernism used in the films as they continued to make them. As the years went buy, obviously the makers of these movies only cared about profit. They would take very popular movies at that time, and copy different scenes in them to help pull in an audience and make profit. Bravo to those people, because movies like Star Wars and Shaft are very iconic, more than helping to bring in profit. By doing this, the true meaning behind the Bond series is lost, but after all, who follows what the true meaning of the series really was? I know that I did not follow it. I still don’t know what the whole idea was about.

Amma, Nummo, Jackle…. Where do they come up with these names?

Well, the group presentation went well. I can honestly say it was one of the easiest and most simple presentations I’ve done with a group thus far. We all were able to come to an agreement the first day we were assigned the group, thus giving us roughly 2 weeks to do our part and present it. We decided what we were going to do, split the work, and combined it together using Google Docs. I’m glad it worked out the way it did because I was terrified of group work since the mishap with the pop culture class. I honestly do not like to do group presentations, or presentations at all for that matter.. so I’m looking forward to getting the next one over and done with so that I will be done with them for this semester.

I’ve been enjoying the other classmates’ presentations as well. It is always cool to see students use different avenues to teach people things. I’m glad that our class did not regurgitate the same presentation over and over. I enjoy the variety a great deal. I'm looking forward to the last group to do their presentation and then move on to the digital humanities. I'm still not exactly sure what that entails.. but I'm excited to move on to another subject.

Mythology

For this upcoming week, our duties for class are to prepare ourselves for the presentation we are doing on Monday or Wednesday. I can say that I really enjoy my group thus far. We have all split up into pairs where we can still work together, but spend more time concentrating on certain aspects of the myth. I didn’t realize how complex our myth was until I started to read it. I had to read and reread the myth many times until I understood exactly what the story was about.

To be honest, I’m still not even sure if I fully understand this myth. There is a lot going on, but it touches on the basic myth themes. It explains why women menstruate and why childbirths are painful through Jackal’s attack against his mother in order to obtain the first word. It also explains why men are circumcised by showing the first two humans were both sexes and it was discovered such a combo was unhealthy. Since the soul of the woman happened to be located on the foreskin, they removed it at birth. This myth also tackles why it is necessary to combine faith and action by showing we need a mixture of faith and proper action to make our lives complete and make the people in heaven happy. And last, it explains why man has to die by saying that heaven is better than earth, and that we must allow our souls to go to heaven in order to make them happy. All of these things show major themes throughout creation mythology.

But anyways, my faith has been renewed in the realm of group projects, and I am excited to get it over and done with. My group has a neat little class activity to do, and I hope it runs smoothly.

Bond... James.. you know the rest.

This weeks readings were on none-other than the “phenomenon” known as the Bond Series by Ian Fleming. I, personally, never understood what the hype was about. With that being said, I have actually never even seen the movies, let alone read the books. I picked up the book we are to read for next week’s discussion, and I hate to say that I fell asleep by the time I was on the 4th page of the text. It could have been because I was tired.. or perhaps it was the context of what I was reading.

The first read we were assigned this week was called, “Dr. No: Bonding Britishness to racial sovereignty” written by Cynthia Baron. It was a pretty interesting read, comparing the sexuality represented by Fleming’s work to the Cold War. Clearly, without reading the book or seeing the film, I am unsure of the context of all of this, but the article refers to an interesting point. Baron states, “Imperialism and racism intersect in the opening moments of the film. As the title sequence ends, we begin to hear a ‘Jamaican’ version of ‘Three Blind Mice’….. Three (blind) black men making their way through Kingston”. The article continues to show the relationships between British and their subjects at this time, eventually showing how black men intimidate people in England at this time. This is news to me, I thought this whole series was about an oversexed spy who kicks a whole lot of ass. There is also an idea of ‘Britisness’ that is being dissected throughout this article, which correlate to the ideas of imperialist hero’s.

Then our readings bring us to “The moments of Bond” by Tony Bennett and Janet Woollacott. This article started out by stating Fleming’s intention was to write as a distraction whilst he was going through a hard time – he had no intention of creating a pop-icon. He also felt as though he did not put enough time into the novel to result in the amount of popularity it got—therefore he decided to kill off the hero in the last book (thanks for ruining it!). In the end, this article defends a lot of arguments, but one of the most interesting is the idea of Bond being a political hero for the middle class. This phenomenon known as James Bond was approached to be branched out through many different avenues – and actually was. From the books, to TV adaptions, to cinema adaptions, and even to a comic strip, the name ‘Bond’ was becoming a household name. He was someone to look up to and to consider a true modern hero.

I think the heroism of Bond is what makes the story so popular. Bond was there as a distraction through many national issues, also growing its popularity. Ladies fantasized over him, and men fantasized to be him.

I mean look at this guy.. Ladies are crawling all over him.  Little boys were growing up to see him as a true hero for the greater good. I guess with all of this said, how could you not love James Bond? I guess I will find out my true feelings on the novel next week..

As We Move On...

Words cannot describe how happy I am to move on from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and onto the next subject. I think I am still bitter about the group work, but either way, it ruined the story for me. That's okay, I prefer The Glass Menagerie anyway. I feel as though if we did that play, maybe I would not be as bitter. But, as we move on..

The Pop-Culture class as a whole is not what I expected. I'm actually looking forward to exploring this concept of what the class is really about. We are looking at things in different avenues and with different concepts that I did not expect.

Anyways, since we had to read from the textbook this week for homework, I've decided that I'm not going to bore anybody and regurgitate everything they just read. Today I am going to discuss my younger brother and how addicted he is to pop-culture through the form of technology. My brother and I are 10 years apart, and I swear he lives a totally different life then I did when I was younger. If the boy is not playing Xbox all day, he is watching TV, on FaceBook, or he is on netflix. And I get that these are leisure activities that everyone should enjoy at times, but I swear he can use do all of these things at once! He will have be checking his Facebook on his phone, while playing video games on the computer, while the TV is on with cartoons blaring on it! I cannot believe how ridiculous he can be, I often question if we are really related.

What ever happened to the days the kids would go out and skateboard, or play baseball, or even go running around with their friends? Nowadays kids text all day instead of having personal interactions with people. They would rather spend hours playing in front of the TV, instead of losing track of time while playing outside. I can't help but think that these things such as FaceBook, or Spongebob, or Xbox are to blame for these children being so antisocial and lazy.

I just wish for once, my younger brother can indulge in the good parts of pop culture. I wish he would pick up a classic book and see what his imagination can do for him. I guarantee if he gave it a try he would be surprised at how fun it could be to just read! I guess my main grudge is held against the technology these days that these kids get a hold of and can't let go of. I wish they would run around instead of watch TV, and read instead of going on FaceBook, and play board games with friends and family instead of playing Xbox. Maybe one day it will happen.

Mythology.. namely "Creation"

We have finally come to the point in class where we are moving on from poetry. I am very glad about this because, not only do I hate analyzing it, I also do not particularly like to write it. I'm sure we discovered that with my lovely poems!

But anyways, with that being said, the class as a whole is venturing into the world of mythology. I'm excited to work with my group and explore the idea of creation. I am hoping that this group presentation runs smoother than the last one I partook in. I want to really dig into the different ideas of "cosmogony", as well as learn about all the different sorts of creations myths there are. So far based on my reading, I'm really looking forward to reading about the sacrifice stories, the earth-diver stories, and the stories of two creators.

A lot of the myths have common features, which I thought was interesting. Almost all of them start with the idea of birth. This could be for numerous reasons, but the most obvious reason is because birth represents a new beginning. They also frequently include supreme beings who set the worlds creation into motion. The theme of the loss of innocence is also present in mythology. It seems as though man and beast lived peacefully amongst each other, then man partakes in a mortal sin, causing the two creators to split up. It seems as though it is usually a God that takes away man's innocence.

I would like to just start off by stating how much I hate group work. Yes, I would rather give a group presentation than an individual presentation, but it is the most difficult thing to try and get everyone to meet up and pull his or her weight. I would rather not have to rely on other people for my grade; however, with this project I know that that is how it is going to be.
For starters, we decided the night that the project was assigned that we would meet the following Monday (a week before the day we would present) to gather our thoughts and to help form how we would discuss the text. Of course, not everyone showed up. It is inevitable with a group this size that everyone would be able to meet. Of the 7 of us, only 5 of us showed up. Brittany told us very early on that she could not make the meeting, and sent us with plenty of information that really dug into the text and brought very important issues to light. Needless to say, Brittany’s absence was forgiven. The same could not be said for Ken. I’m not sure if Ken remembers that this was a GROUP project or not, because he decided to only communicate to Bernie and no one else. He did not show up to the meeting and he did not contribute anything to the group, period. (Until the night of the actual presentation.. which is sad because it seems as though he really understood the text.. we could have used his brain from the start. Very unfortunate). We had a group document online that we would post to, he posted a 3-line paragraph that had nothing to do with our presentation at all, and upon asking him to elaborate, I got nothing in return. Everyone else did his or her part, if not more to try and pull everything together.
From the first meeting, we decided that we were going to do a game show. We were all to gather different information and share it on the document so everyone could see and decide what we would use. I volunteered to do my research and make the posters that we originally were going to use for the game show. I asked everyone to come together by Thursday and send me exactly what questions and answers I was going to put on the poster boards. I had a very busy weekend with work and dealing with identity theft issues, so Thursday would have given me more than enough time to figure everything out and make the posters. No one could come up with a conclusive decision and decided Saturday that we were all just going to split up and do different things. I had work both Saturday and I worked 14 hours on Sunday and was more than frustrated that I had literally no time to figure anything out. Holly decided that we could be partners and work on the gender issue that the text explores. She did more than her part to pull it together, and I contributed what I had, although it might have been too late since none of what I had to say made the cut (Kudos to Holly.. without her I'm not even sure we would have gotten as far as we did Monday.. she really was the person who pulled us all together and if anyone deserves the highest grade, it is her). We have a PowerPoint now and issues at hand to talk about, so as far as I am concerned, we have done our part. We are going to present ours first, and we have a couple of questions lined up to ask the class that really explores the ideas of gender. I am upset that at the last second everything was switched around. I feel as though we needed more time, since the majority of the time we could not agree on anything. As far as Leandro and Brittany, I have a clear idea of what they are doing and their part will flow right after Holly and myself present. With Ken and Bernie, I have absolutely no idea what they are doing. Bernie is the only one who connected with the group, stating that they were going to focus on “class” issues within the text. Ken still has not to this day sent a single e-mail or text to any of the group with what he contributed. You will find out when I do with what they decided to present. The same goes with Katie’s contribution, I have no idea what she is doing either.




AFTER PRESENTATION:

I am please with how things turned out.. However I wish things would have gone differently. I really just wish we had more time. Picking the first presentation date was originally for the convince of it not being tangled with other classes and class projects, however I wish I knew then what I know now.. I would have gone with a different date. I am glad it is over.. I learned a good lesson from all of this.

Poems 495

For my first poem, I decided to write about my maternal grandmother. She and my grandfather adopted my brothers and I about 12 years ago. She is honestly the greatest person I know:

I once knew a witty old lady named Mary,
Who was so strong, any burden she could carry.
I love her more than she could ever know,
For it is she my life I do owe;
My wonderful Mother, my beautiful Mary.


For my second poem, I decided to write about actually being adopted. It was a very difficult time in my life.. therefore I decided to share. Even something discouraging and difficult can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

It is a terrible feeling to not be wanted.
How embarrassing to say you were adopted.
But who would have thought it would turn out like this!
Now I live my life in pure bliss!

Language: I don't understand.

This week’s pop-culture blog was supposed to be about applying one of the analysis’ we read for homework this week to a YouTube clip (either Beauvorian, Saussurean, or Derridean).  I chose to examine Saussure.  My attempt is as follows:

Ferdinand de Saussure was born on November 26^th of 1857, and passed away February 22^nd, 1913.  He was a Swiss linguist who was responsible for many significant changes in linguistics during the 20^th century.  It can also be noted that his ideas are what the fundamentals of Structuralism are based off of.  According to Saussure, language is not a function of the speaker; it is a product that is passively taken in by the individual.  He created the concept of Semiotics, which consists of sign, signifiers, and signified.  These three concepts show the study of signs and the processes that they associate with.  These can be defined as:

*Sign—appoints the subject under survey

*Signified—the concept of the ‘sign’

*Signifier—the sound, symbol, or word that represents the ‘sign’

So, to put these concepts into effect, we can use the example of a cactus.  The physicality of the cactus would be the ‘sign’.  The concept of a prickly plant that holds a large amount of water would be the ‘signified’; and the letters that spell C-A-C-T-U-S would be the ‘signifier’. 

So bottom line, Saussure feels that there is no semiotics -- no natural connection between words and symbols.  Saussure feels as though humans have no natural born association (or should not be) between the word cactus and a living organism that is prickly and holds water.  From when we are born and as we grow up, we learn how to associate words with symbols as a means of communication.  However, not just one word can be associated with a single symbol because there is more than one word per symbol (usually).  For example, plant and cactus – both words can be used for the same symbol.  Similar to this is the fact that many different languages will share the same word, such as the word ‘no’.  (Best word I could come up with while watching the Super Bowl ;] )

In closing, Saussure’s whole argument is that “language is a form, not a substance”.  Language is not a formula of words; instead language is influenced through the culture in which we live.

So this whole time, I have been trying to find a funny YouTube clip that would relate in anyway with Saussure’s concept.  I was not as successful as I wanted to be, but I was able to find this one:

This video shows how ridiculous the English language can be.  It does not quite show the connection between words and symbols, but it does show how words can be very similar yet different all at once.  A person would assume that words spelled similar would be similar (in both phonetics and meaning), however they are VERY different.  It is just weird to see how the English language works.. it is a good thing we all know it, or else it would be extremely hard to learn ;]

The Emperor of DEATH

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Wallace Stevens’ poem, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream”, was first published in the early eighteenth century.  The public immediately took to the poem, and the poem widely influenced many different outlets throughout popular culture.  There have been songs and even novels that have been influenced by this legendary poem.  Upon first glace of the poem, it is unclear what the true message Stevens’ is trying to get across.  Is this a poem about a cold, sweet dessert?  Could the poem have to do with a ruler of a land who was too sweet for his own good?  After reading the poem, it is even more unclear than it was previously as to what the true meaning of this poem is.  It is obvious that the meaning of the poem and the title of the poem have very little in common.  After several readings and deep analysis of form and language, a clearer meaning of “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” can be seen without difficulty.  The poem is discussing a funeral, but it is unclear whether the Emperor is the Emperor of life, or the Emperor of death.  In Wallace Stevens’ poem, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream”, the Emperor discussed in the poem could be looked at as both life and death.

            Before the meaning of the poem is explored, it is important to first look at the dynamics of the poetry so the audience can take note of anything substantially noticeable throughout the piece.  The first noticeable thing about the form of the poem is that it is written in two stanzas.  Each stanza is composed of eight lines each, and neither of the stanzas have a clear meter pattern.  Even though the rhyme scheme is irregular, the couplet that ends the first stanza and the two couplets ending the second stanza seem to rhyme.  This helps to put emphasis on these lines, which contain only 8 to 9 syllables apiece.  The feet of the poem differ noticeably, indicating no regular pattern of meter.

            In the article, “Wallace Stevens’ Ice-Cream” by Richard Ellmann, he states, “The last battlement before us is the line, ‘The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.’  There are two going interpretations of this line, one that the emperor is life, the other that he is death” (94).  When examining the poem, there are points that could be argued for both sides of the life or death battle.  However, after several readings of the poem, it becomes clear that the poem is to be perceived as a celebratory event-taking place.  It slowly becomes evident that the occasion of the poem is a funeral of some sort.  The poem makes two major references to funerals when Stevens states, “Let the wenches dawdle in such dress/As they are used to wear, and let the boys/Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers” (4-6), as well as “Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet/On which she embroidered fantails once/And spread it so as to cover her face” (10-12).  The boys bringing flowers and the sheet covering the woman’s face are common characteristics of funerals throughout time.  The way that these events are described in the poem is more celebratory than mourning, indicating that the “Emperor of Ice-Cream” is indicating life rather than death.  Not to mention that ice cream is generally a refreshing and delicious treat, one that a person would enjoy while in a good mood.  The call for the “roller of big cigars” would also be seen as a symbol for the celebration of life.

            More critics would argue that this poem is showing the emperor to be perceived as death.  Ellmann states, “I think we may reach a little nearer if we remember that the characteristics of ice cream are that it is tasty, transitory, and cold.  Life may be tasty and perishable, but it is not cold” (94).  The coldness of what the ice cream actually is shows how the emperor could very well be death.  In Karl P. Wentersdof’s article, “Wallace Stevens, Dante, Alighieri, and the Emperor”, he describes his first view of ice cream as being “a symbol for Epicureanism; on the second, it is an image both of the coldness of death and of the transience of hedonistic values” (200). There are obvious points in this poem of both positive and negative nature, however the negative outweighs the positive.  The women entering the funeral are wenches who “dawdle in such dress as they are used to wear” (4-5), and the flowers are brought in “last month’s newspapers” (7).  There is not much respect for the funeral in general.  The disrespect continues when the poem suggests the sheet used to cover the woman will not cover her feet, but no one seems to care about the poor dead woman and covering her body fully.  There is an overwhelming sense of coldness that comes with the handling of the body, and it is evident that no one really cared about this woman.  The negative undertones go hand in hand with the emperor of ice cream being death itself seeing as how death is generally a negative event.

            Although there are many ways the subject of this poem can be perceived, it is notorious that the ideas of both life and death are more than present throughout.  The references of negativity and positivity are pretty steady throughout the entire poem, sending mixed messages to the readers.  Stevens himself was vague about the poems exact meaning, in Elman’s article he states, “When Stevens was informed of this difference of critical opinion, he said, in effect, ‘So much the better!’ and refused to judge between them” (93).  The vagueness of this poem has influenced many different outlets throughout our culture, showing how widely popular this poem truly is.  In the end, it can be said that the true meaning of the poem lies within the reader and their personal views of life and death.

Works Cited

Ellmann, Richard. "Wallace Stevens' Ice-Cream." The Kenyon Review 19.1 (1957): 89-105.

Print.

Smith, Philip. 100 Best-Loved Poems. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. Print.

Wentersdorf, Karl P.. "Wallace Stevens, Dante Alighieri, and the Emperor." Twentieth Century

Literature 13.4 (1968): 197-204. Print. 

So upon researching this topic, I found this slightly disturbing tribute to Stevens poem.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

English 313 Intro

Hello world! My name is Michelle Thomas and this is my blog for my popular culture class. I am 22 years old, and I am a senior at CSUN. I work and go to school full time, and I am looking forward to graduating and taking a break from one of my full time activities. In this blog, I am going to do analysis on many different readings and “pop-culture” things that we look at for our class.

In my opinion, pop-culture is any commercial products or media of any kind that is made for a general mass of people. While reading the article “Politics of Culture”, I learned exactly what culture from above and culture from below really meant. From my understanding, culture from above is associated with a hierarchal group in society that focuses more on how the culture affects their personal lives. This practice of culture was exclusive to a certain group of people who were particularly wealthy. These people had money to spare, so they would spend more to make sure that they were well “cultured”, which was looked at as a means to advance their knowledge of the fine arts around them. An example of what “culture from above” really meant was people who could afford the time and money to attend things such as theaters. These plays and operas that people from these times would attend would help to broaden their knowledge. It almost seems that these culture outlets were used as a way to increase social stance.

As time went on, the idea of culture changed. Culture went from being a social stance to being commercial products or media outlets that represented a mass of people. Culture began to represent different TV shows, movies, music, and other cultural things that had an effect on masses of people. In the article, culture from below was defined from being culture a person acquires from their families since they cannot afford the things that culture from above folk could afford. An interesting quote that explains this is when the author states, “Working-class people, on the other hand, will acquire from their family context and the schools they attend cultural dispositions that prepare them for lives at the bottom of the class ladder”. This is where the difference between culture from above and culture from below become most evident. If you really were to just focus on the words above and below, you could see that above obviously represents the upper class, where as below represents all other classes of people.






My e-mail: michelle.thomas.624@my.csun.edu

English 495 Intro

Hello! My name is Michelle Thomas and I am a senior at CSUN.  I was born and raised in Palmdale, which is about an hour away from Northridge.  I work as a Barista at my local Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  Surprisingly, I love my job and the people I work with, however, I could do without the customers at times.  I grew up in a very dysfunctional family in which both of my parents are heavy drug abusers.  Since this is the case, my brothers and I live with my maternal grandparents who have always been the best parents in the world to us.  My determination and drive comes from my birth parents, surprisingly.  My goal is to be the exact opposite of what they are.. as well as to make my grandparents proud.  I’m the first and only person in my family that has gone as this far in college, and my drive to finish is stronger than ever.  When I graduate with my BA, I am going to go back to school (hopefully) to obtain my MA and become a teacher.  I also have a slight dream of going to law school, which I go back and forth about.  It would be nice to go to law school and to practice law (the money would not hurt), but I am not sure if that is truly my passion like teaching is.  I guess only time will tell at this point!

So as far as the role I feel media technology should play in teaching, I stand at the view point that every child/person learns differently, and sometimes it takes unique avenues such as media technology to fully understand a concept.  It also makes learning fun.  As students, we can all relate to the typical power-point/3 hour lecture or the usual generic group work; but by giving different avenues such as blogging or videos, music, etc., it helps students to be excited to learn something new in a refreshing way.  I have been in my different classes where we had to read a play or a novel of some sort, and then the instructor showed the film in class.  I can honestly say that more than a few times it took me to see the film after I read the text to really connect different things and fully understand the texts.  However, I feel as though there always should be that happy medium of media technology in the classroom.  Teachers at any level should be able to incorporate media technology to help students learn in “informal” ways, but there should still be that discipline that comes with learning as well.  I’m sure everyone has experienced a subject or a certain text that they just did not want to study, however, this is part of learning and branching out to hopefully view things differently.  But I do think that a certain amount of technology in the classroom can be very refreshing and can open students eyes to different things they might have been oblivious to before.

My e-mail: michelle.thomas.624@my.csun.edu