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.