Research Update

My week has been very hectic with work and family, but with the research that I have found, it's been very useful to me. My perspective with my research question has not really changed. My current up to date research question is "How is technology contributing to the obesity epidemic in the United States?" After posting and looking over some comments on it in my group discussion, I'm still in the process of thinking about narrowing my research question even more to the age group of children and adolescence  I'm still doing some research so I believe that the more research I uncover about my topic I will be able to determine if I should narrow it even more with that age group. I've learned a lot about the contributing factors of technology. For example obesity isn't just becoming an issue within the United States, but rather all around the world! Obviously I won;t be talking about that within my paper, but it was interesting to read about it.
I've also decided to use driving as one of the new technologies that are a part of all of this. I didn't necessarily think about cars as a "new technology" but with this people aren't walking, or biking as much as people maybe once used to. I'm not quite sure how I will organize my paper yet. I think I might break up the paragraphs by technologies that are a direct affect on the obesity epidemic. Some examples are television, cell phones, cars, etc.

Who's to blame?

So I changed my topic completely. I unfortunately wasn't able to find much on my previous topic, and it was hard to directly relate it to popular culture. I decided to change my topic to focus on the increase of obesity within the United States. Being over weight or obese seems to still be a topic within popular culture, and I believe that a lot of it has to do with the way our society has become due to things that have risen up because of pop culture. For example, people stay inside, or may have lease physical activity due to the increase in technology, allowing it to be easier to just sit around. Another aspect is how face-past our society has become, and its desire for conveniency. There are more single parent families with less time to make dinner, parents are working more to help their families stay afloat, healthy food is expensive while junk food is cheaper, the way fast food is advertised to us on a regular basis, and how available these types of food are available to us. With all these changes in our culture, it's affecting our health.

I'm trying to figure out how to narrow my research question, but's its hard because I wanted to look at how our culture is changing which is a main cause of increase to our "weight problem." Since I want to cover children and adult obesity and all of the factors of why our weight is increasing, I wanted to ask the question "Who is to blame for the sudden increase of obesity in the United States?" Is it parents? Ourselves? The government? Fast food companies? The food industry? Who is to blame for this?
I personally think that it's everyones fault. We as a society are always on the go. We busy ourselves so much that we don't make time, or make it important to cook a balanced meal and sit down to not just eat it, but enjoy it. The fact that junk food is EVERYWHERE doesn't help. It's so easy for us to access. Healthy food is more expensive than junk food, I wish it could switch, however, it is cheaper to make junk food to begin with (I think this says a lot about the quality of it.) Overall I have found some interesting information on all of this.

Filters by Artists

What sets apart Instagram and Facebook? Yes they are both considered social networking sites, but I don't think this means that they have to be defined and classified under the same umbrella of an idea of what a social network is. Facebook asks you to provide more details than Instagram, for example, you can post things, like pages, it asks your school information etc. Facebook is designed for you to contact others that you see either regularly or that you haven't seen in a long time. Regardless, talking is the main point of Facebook. Sure you can share and look at photos on Facebook, but it's mainly designed for conversation. In saying that, Instagram is completely different. You create a profile, which doesn't have to be that personal, and you post pictures. You are able to like and comment on photos, but that isn't the purpose of Instagram. The co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom says this "We decided that if we were going to build a company, we wanted to focus on being really good at one thing." Later he talks about having t make adjustments to the app and says "What remained was Instagram. (We renamed because we felt it better captured what you were doing — an instant telegram of sorts. It also sounded camera-y)." This backs up the idea of why instagram was created and what i's purpose was intended for. 

I don't think that Instagram is designed specifically for ONLY friends and family. In fact I personally hardly have any family members on instagram. I also think that because of this, a lot of kids post more "party" pictures and things like that on instagram because their parents and family pmembers are less likely to see it due to the lack of personal information that instagram desn't require you to provide. Users are able to create a user name that is irrelevant to their actual name. You can, in a sense, create your own fantasy, or just simply show your life through photographs.On Facebook, people can post on your wall, where as on instagram you have sole control.

Artist can filter the things on their Instagram. They can even have a them to their photos. These pictures posted on instagram could be posted on Facebook but they aren't. Why is this?

Teens and college aged students use instagram the most because I believe they have more time to actually be on the site/app and have more time to edit photos.

An interesting belief/values that this brings up in what people post is that people aren't living in the moment anymore. They are just trying to capture the moment. It's now "look what I did" instead of "let me TELL you what i did."

Instagram is designed not just to have friends, but to have access to create an online presence for themselves (users), without having very expensive equipment for the photographs they post.

Facebook is a lot of telling and showing.

Instagram allows you to portray what you want people to see than what you really are.

There is also the example of the actual Instagram page that Instagram has and the pictures they post. The whole movement of hashtags is very powerful also. It;s a way for people to link their photos to others and to words.

Sorry this is so choppy, but these are the ideas and things that I would like to cover in the essay. I don't think that Intsagram is like all other social networking sites. I think some people might treat it in that way, but I don't believe that the majority of people treat it that way. I think Instagram is more "artsy" if you will. It's more of a show than a tell.

"Mean Girls" Ideas/outline/rough draft. Still have a lot more ideas

The movie "Mean Girls" was released in 2004. The target audience being teenagers, young adolescence, and even up to some adults based upon some humor. "Mean Girls" as a film has been extremely successful as it was released almost ten years ago, yet it still captures and portrays many stereotypes within high school. Some of these stereo types are completely relatable while others are over the top. The humor, and lines in this movie have proven to great, since many people still quote the movie in today's popular culture. Values portrayed in the movie are looks and popularity. Power and control are another huge topic to look into with this movie. The two main characters find their identity in the power they have to control the people around them. This is how they make it to the top of the totem pole. They have no mercy on others, as they seek what is best for them. The control they have over others is relentless. Attitudes are sassy, and mean.

Some myths that I think could be seen are that you have to be mean, back-stabbing, and selfish to become what popular culture defines as "popular". The word "Popularity" wasn't associated with anyone who was gracious and kind at all in the beginning of the movie, only toward the end. Even then there wasn't anyone completely at the top of the pyramid.

Even though this movie was released so long ago, a lot of the beliefs and values that were of Popular Culture then are still evident in today's popular culture. People still obsess over how others view and perceive them rather not not worrying about it and just simply being them selves. Girls, and not only girls, can still be cruel and mean. I believe these values are negative and positive. They feed us lies about what makes us worthy and how we can get attention: by being cruel and unintentional. Some positive values it shows us is that the bad doesn't win. Lies and secrets start to pour out, and sooner or later, a real human being with feelings will emerge from this constricting cocoon that "popularity" places on a person. In the end, this idea to be "on top" and in power is broken, and the high school girls feel they can be at peace with being themselves. Once again it is a great way to see what we as a culture value. This movie shows that we value material things, and are wiling to do anything to get what we want, even if that means tearing down others in the process.

Advertisers in Control

I picture advertisers as people who seek some mad power, who enjoy finding new ways to control humans by getting into there heads, go beyond internet boundaries to persuade, and are constantly feeding us subliminal messages to pursuade us to buy their product. Advertisers will doing anything to make sure their product comes out on top, including feeding us these fake, mythical, fantasies that steer us away from reality. It causes us to blur the line between a want and a need. "Do I want that perfume? Do I need that perfume? Well that woman looks real desired from that man, he can't keep his hands off of her. I need that, I need love." This could be an example of how advertisers will sell a product to us. It's tied in with an intense emotion, thus triggering our emotions. In the Gucci Guilty image I'm looking at (link provided), it's selling you this intense idea of pleasure. Even the name of the perfume is a tool, think of a "guilty pleasure". She's daring, desired, and the ad is bold, isn't that as humans what we want most of the time? We don't want to be boring, or predictable, but we want to be adventurous, we want to live, and we most certainly want to be desired.

Another interesting approach I've seen advertisers use to sell their product is the use of real consumers showing their feelings on their product explaining to viewers how much they love a product, and how much great it has done in their life. The proactive commercial is a good example.

All these stories that ads tell us can most certainly be harmful if it alters someone's sense of reality. At the same time it might be beneficial, by helping give a dull person a sense of life again, it's hard to say. This ties into the trend, though, of  a lack of control in consumer privacy. Advertisers are on a constant hunt for our loyalty to a product, and they will do anything to seek it. So what is the cost here? Our privacy for sure! There are no boundaries with advertisements. I've noticed lately, for example, how much more risky commercials are, pushing limits on T.V. Some ads definitely have the power the make us question our lifestyle and the things that we should find important in our life. We are being feed so much different things, and I think because of this it's easy for Americans to become glutinous in more aspects than one. We're never completely satisfied. We always want more, and "need" more. So this raises the question of how much of this is actually true?

http://irenasg.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/evan-rachel-wood-gucci-guilty-perfume-ad-campaign.jpg

Doritos Princess Commercial

http://youtu.be/tPtUJHpI3W0

I decided to use the Doritos Chips advertisement with the little girl dressed as a princess used in during the Superbowl this last year. My initial response to the advertisement was laughter. Here was this cute little girl playing dress up in her room with a princess dress, heels, and make-up. She is living a typical dreamer life of a little girl her age. Her dad walks by in the hallway and is heading outside to go play football with "the guys" when his little girl stops him to ask if he will play dress up with her. At first he turns her down until she states that she has Doritos to share with him if he plays with her. I laughed because the fact the he could get Doritos if he played with his daughter persuaded him enough to dress up in girl clothing, make-up and all, willing to look ridiculous for not necessarily his daughter, but for a bag of Doritos. It was even funnier when the rest of the guys came and joined in dress up after they realized they too would get Doritos.
I think this advertisement is trying to sell to the viewer that should and can be willing to do anything for a bag of Doritos. Even the toughest, most macho of men are willing to do the most outrageous in order to get the chips that they want. It also shows the relationship between a father and his daughter. It kind of follows and reinforces the stereo type of "daddy's little girl" in that she can ask him and persuade him to do anything by providing incentive for her dad.
This advertisement is persuasive in that it shows the viewers, specifically males, that nothing is to ridiculous to do if in the end it's for a bag of Doritos. This commercial doesn't make me feel like I need to buy this product, but it does make me like the brand because it's clear how humorous they are. There was an intense crunch sound every time a person took a bite of the chips, this kind of makes me want chips and subconsciously makes me think I hungry even though I might not be. It's appealing to one's sensory of taste and sound.
Overall I also look forward to the Doritos commercials. I can also count of the fact that they will be creative and humorous!

The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch Response

I never realized how much of a struggle it was back in history when famous historians, theologians, etc. tried to alter and change the meaning of popular culture, and give it to the ordinary rather than the elite. "Popular art confirms the experience of the majority," said Russel Nye. The idea of popular culture simply defining what is going on right now in culture, rather than challenging it with new ideas to move forward. 

It's also cool to see that the "Rights Revolution" steamed from the change in definition of popular culture. I've learned how much of a revolution there was when the idea of popular culture was changing. I feel as though it is easy to take for granted the things that we have in this world as well as the ideas that we generate. These historians and other famous people of the past that helped alter the idea and meaning of pop culture were true revolutionaries, and had courage to stand up for change. They took a lot of hits because they were bold enough to say that pop culture was different than what it was originally known for. 

It is interesting to me to see how the role of movies and cinema had such an effect on entertainment and popular culture. "The movies," wrote Sklar, "were the first medium of entertainment and cul- tural information to be controlled by men who did not share the eth- nic or religious backgrounds of the traditional cultural elites" (Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America: How the Movies Changed American Life (New York: Random House, 1975).) I completely agree with this idea that it was a great way in media to broadcast other ideas that differed from those of the elites, whom popular culture previously belonged to.