Christmas
On Christmas eve, I spent half the day with my friends, in which we went to someone's home and played video games for most of the day til around 3:00ish. (I had gorged myself on grapes in between these festivities). The other half I spent at home eating hotpot with my family and a bunch of my mom's friends. I pretty much watched over the little kids, my brother, Ellen, and Jessie (my mom's friend's daughters). Hotpot is a kind of buffet like thing, where there are a bunch of ingredients and we throw it into a pot to cook, there's food like seaweed, fish balls, beef slices, veggies, mushrooms, dumplings, lamb, noodles, wintermelon, etc. Its pretty simple. My family doesn't really celebrate Christmas, there's no decorating of mistletoe, trees, Santa figurines or anything but I think we tend to invite people on that day for food and chat. This would tap into Christmas being a day to spend with your friends and family, a message we get from both corporate and folk. I like this face of Christmas where it brings people together, spending time with your family and friends, and how its about giving albeit that part of it is what corporate media uses to make Christmas such a commercialized holiday.
What I don't get about Christmas is why this one day, why some people try to make this the one day where things are good. Why don't we make an effort the other days of the year? Its as if its ingrained that if this one day could be perfect, then it makes up for all the other ones that aren't. Of course there are exceptions as there are with many things, but why is that? Is it all the movies we've watched were the people get into the Christmas spirit. Its touted as an almost magical day in Corporate media.
New Years
Its New Years Eve! I see Bill and Hilary Clinton along with other people holding on to the button that will drop the giant ball. On Channel 7, ABC, you will see the Disney stars the Jonas brothers, Deni Lavoto and teen country singer Taylor swift. The people are clad in their blue 2008 hats and glasses and await, watching the big countdown timer in time square. The big ball is dropping and confetti falls as people count down with the timer. Its a huge confetti fest and there are ads in the telly for Nivea, and other brands. In huge block letters 2009 is lit up. The camera zooms into a crowd of kissing people. Everyone is into the new years kiss thing.
Hmm..what does this say about our culture? For one thing, not to state the obvious, its very materialistic with all the ads and focus on products that's a message we get from where to derive meaning from for another we enjoy making a big celebration to mark off fresh starts. Seeing how such a big crowd of people will gather to watch a gigantic ball drop on times square and how we find it necessary to mark the year with this big extravaganza, we're into milestones, marking off the passage of time. Its meaningful to us to feel we have some control over things like time when we know we don't. People will go to times square and at midnight the whole kissing thing that welcomes the New Year is a somewhat bizarre tradition that maybe highlights people's want for contact. It's like a need for social connection in a way. I think this is meaningful to people and somehow creates meaning for them.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Edited Draft
We're always searching for something to make our lives "complete" and it seems to me that we each fixate on an idea that will bring fulfillment to our lives. This idea is something that we take in from our culture and shapes our definition of what meaning is. There are different views as to what meaning is, but many of us have the same idea because we base what we think from what we know, which is our culture. It’s like a cycle that is repeated with each generation and as the times change, it is tweaked but stays basically the same. Frequently, the messages we get from different sources are contradictory and it’s up to us to choose what we want to take in and what we don’t want apart of our psyche. Big Subculture, Corporate Culture, and Folk Culture are sources of our ideas of how to live a good and meaningful life.
During a time in the 20th century when technology had not progressed like it has now, the culture's message was based on society and to a large part, religion which is part of the Big Subcultures. Since the message was that Men were seen as better or at a higher status then women (interpreted from the bible by men), almost everyone thought that it was true and abided by that train of thought. Culturally speaking, meaningful was a woman staying home by the hearth and taking care of the children. Girls grew up like that accepting that when they come to a certain point of their lives they will settle down and take care of the children. So, for a long time it was like that before someone thought to question the way it has always been. Change in what we think is meaningful or not is largely due to circumstance, and circumstance demanded for change. When World War I came alot of the men were drafted. Because of the large demand of jobs and not enough men to fill the positions, it was women who for the first time were accepted into the work force in large numbers. This expanded their views because as that became acceptable what was meaningful started to change for women. That they have this opportunity, our culture had to adapt and accept that meaning can be found at work too and that settling down isn't necessarily the only way to a meaningful life. Like that meaning can change and adapt to include our circumstances. Even now, we still get the idea that settling down and starting a family is part of what we should do to have a meaningful life, but it is not limited to just that idea anymore.
Even though my idea of a meaningful life is partial to what media and society tells me, I can decide what I want to believe, because otherwise its just taking in things mindlessly without questioning whether its true or not and applying it mindlessly as well. There are messages that strike true for me and there are messages that I do not believe in at all, like . To me a meaningful life is very much apart of what relationships we create and shape with others. It’s also contentment and
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis.
Human connection is very innate. Even as children we start forming relationships with our family or friends. Part of that is through imitation, but the other part is inimitable, the feelings we draw from it. That is something that many people would agree to be meaningful, whether it come from family of friends.
Corporate Media sends us many different messages on what it means to live a meaningful life. Because Corporate Media is owned by corporations, messages are often reported in a way that favors the interests of the owners of news media or its advertisers. In ads from corporate message, they show us an image of what we should want and what we should be, by suggesting that this is what we are not, and that we can be that by buying their products. These kinds of ads play on people's insecurities and works, simply by saying that we need it for our lives to be meaningful. “Advertisements sell a lot more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be” (Kilbourne). They tell us what is or is not meaningful in life through these ideas of “success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy”.
If you look in any magazine there are ads that tell us to buy something. One such ad can be found in Businessweek, Nov. 10, 2008 issue, on page 72 where we can see a picturesque scene of roomy indoor cabins and red wine in a plane, decorated in a comfy and luxurious way. This ad, like many others, sends the message that money and luxury is part of having a meaningful life, being able to afford "the best" means that we are successful. The ad talks about how it is the 'greenest' in its class playing on a trend towards caring for the planet by saying that flying the luxury class in the plane can be helpful for the planet. Being from corporate media the ad is aimed to get consumers and does that by sending the message that lavishness and extravagance will grant us meaning.
Even the music videos that are watched in entertainment send us a message that having alot of money to buy things with is important to living a good and meaningful life. In The Good Life by Kanye West the video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life. When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine". The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a low-cut shirt, etc. There are pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money. Like the ad in Businessweek success is valued and it equates to money and being able to afford things.
"Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV"
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on TV all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
"I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate"
He no longer thinks the criticisms of others is important. It’s a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it a lot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will".
Strangers, Family, and Friends all have different views on the meaning of life. For this project we had to ask people who we knew well and people we didn’t really know at all what their perspective on meaning was. I asked them what they defined meaning as, what they found to be a meaningful part of their lives, and how they much meaning they thought they had in their lives.
People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be complete of have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful. It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the pursuit of happiness, as well as in our constitution (Declaration of Independence). Closeness and happiness is something that people find meaningful, whether it is because of our culture or something else, family and friends seem to be a part of that equation.
Most of the people we asked seemed interested in our project and gave thoughtful answers in response to our questions. I think the wiser answers in these interviews came from people of age, and they seemed to be affected by how they were brought up. The middle aged man, who was dressed in a business suit and seemed to come from a well off family, said that he thought education as well as family was important when asked about what was meaningful in life he said it was. When we asked people if we thought they were wise the people in the twenties often replied no, because a majority of people think that wisdom comes from age and experiences. But despite any differences of age or upbringing the way people thought about meaning were along the same lines.
"We determine meaning based on the function it serves in our lives" (Synder) could be the reason for why people feel the way they do about what they think is or isn’t meaningful. The People I had interviewed seemed to derive meaning in that way as well. The middle age old man obviously felt strongly about how much his family meant to him, so we can also see that it playing a large role in his life made him feel that it was something that was meaningful. His family made him happy and was a positive function his life and was how he determined that to be meaningful. The guy on the bike thought that human drama was not meaningful because it was function that detracted from his life was the grounds for why he thought it was not meaningful.
Marginalized messages we get is to face the truth. Which in this culture of denial, we often don't. Since people do not want to acknowledge the current state of certain things, it being easier to burrow our heads in the sand and pretending that if we don't accept it that means that it isn't happening even though it is. In Pump up the Volume (Newline Cinema) we get a fringe message to face that in a way that goes against the conventionality of the culture. In the scene where the teens riot and protest the current system they had currently been following, chaos and destruction in the name of creativity and protest seems to be what is happening. What I wonder is which is better, the chaos of an unstructured system or the overly stifling slow destruction of a structured system. Often in corporate culture we get the message to "Get happy, get a cute girlfriend, write a bestseller" as a standard to living a good and meaningful life. Personally I don't see anything wrong with it, if that's what you want to do, do it, if not, don't. Its just something that you may put on yourself as something you should do. In the film the message is that this isn't conducive to a good and meaningful life and its scoffed at as an standard that can at times be unrealistic.
During a time in the 20th century when technology had not progressed like it has now, the culture's message was based on society and to a large part, religion which is part of the Big Subcultures. Since the message was that Men were seen as better or at a higher status then women (interpreted from the bible by men), almost everyone thought that it was true and abided by that train of thought. Culturally speaking, meaningful was a woman staying home by the hearth and taking care of the children. Girls grew up like that accepting that when they come to a certain point of their lives they will settle down and take care of the children. So, for a long time it was like that before someone thought to question the way it has always been. Change in what we think is meaningful or not is largely due to circumstance, and circumstance demanded for change. When World War I came alot of the men were drafted. Because of the large demand of jobs and not enough men to fill the positions, it was women who for the first time were accepted into the work force in large numbers. This expanded their views because as that became acceptable what was meaningful started to change for women. That they have this opportunity, our culture had to adapt and accept that meaning can be found at work too and that settling down isn't necessarily the only way to a meaningful life. Like that meaning can change and adapt to include our circumstances. Even now, we still get the idea that settling down and starting a family is part of what we should do to have a meaningful life, but it is not limited to just that idea anymore.
Even though my idea of a meaningful life is partial to what media and society tells me, I can decide what I want to believe, because otherwise its just taking in things mindlessly without questioning whether its true or not and applying it mindlessly as well. There are messages that strike true for me and there are messages that I do not believe in at all, like . To me a meaningful life is very much apart of what relationships we create and shape with others. It’s also contentment and
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis.
Human connection is very innate. Even as children we start forming relationships with our family or friends. Part of that is through imitation, but the other part is inimitable, the feelings we draw from it. That is something that many people would agree to be meaningful, whether it come from family of friends.
Corporate Media sends us many different messages on what it means to live a meaningful life. Because Corporate Media is owned by corporations, messages are often reported in a way that favors the interests of the owners of news media or its advertisers. In ads from corporate message, they show us an image of what we should want and what we should be, by suggesting that this is what we are not, and that we can be that by buying their products. These kinds of ads play on people's insecurities and works, simply by saying that we need it for our lives to be meaningful. “Advertisements sell a lot more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be” (Kilbourne). They tell us what is or is not meaningful in life through these ideas of “success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy”.
If you look in any magazine there are ads that tell us to buy something. One such ad can be found in Businessweek, Nov. 10, 2008 issue, on page 72 where we can see a picturesque scene of roomy indoor cabins and red wine in a plane, decorated in a comfy and luxurious way. This ad, like many others, sends the message that money and luxury is part of having a meaningful life, being able to afford "the best" means that we are successful. The ad talks about how it is the 'greenest' in its class playing on a trend towards caring for the planet by saying that flying the luxury class in the plane can be helpful for the planet. Being from corporate media the ad is aimed to get consumers and does that by sending the message that lavishness and extravagance will grant us meaning.
Even the music videos that are watched in entertainment send us a message that having alot of money to buy things with is important to living a good and meaningful life. In The Good Life by Kanye West the video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life. When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine". The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a low-cut shirt, etc. There are pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money. Like the ad in Businessweek success is valued and it equates to money and being able to afford things.
"Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV"
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on TV all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
"I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate"
He no longer thinks the criticisms of others is important. It’s a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it a lot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will".
Strangers, Family, and Friends all have different views on the meaning of life. For this project we had to ask people who we knew well and people we didn’t really know at all what their perspective on meaning was. I asked them what they defined meaning as, what they found to be a meaningful part of their lives, and how they much meaning they thought they had in their lives.
People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be complete of have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful. It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the pursuit of happiness, as well as in our constitution (Declaration of Independence). Closeness and happiness is something that people find meaningful, whether it is because of our culture or something else, family and friends seem to be a part of that equation.
Most of the people we asked seemed interested in our project and gave thoughtful answers in response to our questions. I think the wiser answers in these interviews came from people of age, and they seemed to be affected by how they were brought up. The middle aged man, who was dressed in a business suit and seemed to come from a well off family, said that he thought education as well as family was important when asked about what was meaningful in life he said it was. When we asked people if we thought they were wise the people in the twenties often replied no, because a majority of people think that wisdom comes from age and experiences. But despite any differences of age or upbringing the way people thought about meaning were along the same lines.
"We determine meaning based on the function it serves in our lives" (Synder) could be the reason for why people feel the way they do about what they think is or isn’t meaningful. The People I had interviewed seemed to derive meaning in that way as well. The middle age old man obviously felt strongly about how much his family meant to him, so we can also see that it playing a large role in his life made him feel that it was something that was meaningful. His family made him happy and was a positive function his life and was how he determined that to be meaningful. The guy on the bike thought that human drama was not meaningful because it was function that detracted from his life was the grounds for why he thought it was not meaningful.
Marginalized messages we get is to face the truth. Which in this culture of denial, we often don't. Since people do not want to acknowledge the current state of certain things, it being easier to burrow our heads in the sand and pretending that if we don't accept it that means that it isn't happening even though it is. In Pump up the Volume (Newline Cinema) we get a fringe message to face that in a way that goes against the conventionality of the culture. In the scene where the teens riot and protest the current system they had currently been following, chaos and destruction in the name of creativity and protest seems to be what is happening. What I wonder is which is better, the chaos of an unstructured system or the overly stifling slow destruction of a structured system. Often in corporate culture we get the message to "Get happy, get a cute girlfriend, write a bestseller" as a standard to living a good and meaningful life. Personally I don't see anything wrong with it, if that's what you want to do, do it, if not, don't. Its just something that you may put on yourself as something you should do. In the film the message is that this isn't conducive to a good and meaningful life and its scoffed at as an standard that can at times be unrealistic.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Worker Dies in Black Friday Stampede
I first heard it on Friday at the laundromat, about a worker at a Long Island Walmart who got stampeded over by a bunch of overzealous shoppers. Then hearing the phrase of how the workers are watching over the doors, to watch over the people, my mind went off into a tangent because it reminded me of the saying 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' or 'who will guard the guards?'. It made me think of our government and who would watch over those who are supposed to be watching over us with the recession and the current state of our system. Its by no means perfect...then I wondered what the whole situation was saying about our society and culture that makes its people so deal-crazed that even when they were trying to clear out a path for help for the man the people continued to shop. What is it that makes people so obsessed with buying things? Is it human nature to want material things? Situations like these show a cold and very uncaring side of human nature where the focus is on yourself and it doesn't matter who is hurt or injured. We can live like this, most likely it'll get you somewhere, but such a philosophy takes away meaning because when you can't care for others, it makes the world a much lonelier place.
But I don't think that this is really undeniable proof about how society is, because there are also articles about human altruism and I think it can just as easily applied to the whole society metaphor. Its just more acceptable to focus on negative things. Since just as there are bad things like corruption or greed, there are also good things, like kindness and altruism. People are not composed of wholly one side of the spectrum but usually a mix of both. Like in The Secret Millionaire these millionaires give away 100,000 dollars of their own money to help people in need, but they also live like them and get to know the people that they would help and take on a new identity as the "average Joe". Its a real show for altruism, because it really changes them, the millionaires, and the people they help. The people live below the poverty line are people who have a a young daughter with cancer, homelessness, and are so thankful and so grateful for the money they receive, they become very emotional because of what the money means for them, it's like a miracle. For the millionairs the whole experience is "eye-opening" because they have never experienced anything like the things that have happened to these people and have never met people like that before. They're struck by the selfless people they meet,like Katherine, an old lady who opens her home for anyone who needs to eat, and takes care of many abandoned children from 5 years to 15 years of age. The stories are real, and how the people help each other is a very amazing experience of human kindness.
But I don't think that this is really undeniable proof about how society is, because there are also articles about human altruism and I think it can just as easily applied to the whole society metaphor. Its just more acceptable to focus on negative things. Since just as there are bad things like corruption or greed, there are also good things, like kindness and altruism. People are not composed of wholly one side of the spectrum but usually a mix of both. Like in The Secret Millionaire these millionaires give away 100,000 dollars of their own money to help people in need, but they also live like them and get to know the people that they would help and take on a new identity as the "average Joe". Its a real show for altruism, because it really changes them, the millionaires, and the people they help. The people live below the poverty line are people who have a a young daughter with cancer, homelessness, and are so thankful and so grateful for the money they receive, they become very emotional because of what the money means for them, it's like a miracle. For the millionairs the whole experience is "eye-opening" because they have never experienced anything like the things that have happened to these people and have never met people like that before. They're struck by the selfless people they meet,like Katherine, an old lady who opens her home for anyone who needs to eat, and takes care of many abandoned children from 5 years to 15 years of age. The stories are real, and how the people help each other is a very amazing experience of human kindness.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday
During Thanksgiving I went to Queens to eat dinner with my grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, and cousins at my Aunt's home. I visited my grandma's and grandpa's first and it was meaningful to talk to them since I haven't seen them in a while. It was about very random things and my little brother showed them new magic tricks he had learned. He's getting better at it, so he's pretty proud of his tricks. I think it means a lot for my grandpa especially to see us, so it means something to me too because he seems happy when we visit him.
My aunt made a lot of stuff during for Thanksgiving dinner. I think she's very into health because she made low-fat healthy dishes, so taking care of herself is important to her. She also exercises a lot and likes to wear tracksuits. I think meaning is created by yourself, and those things that are important to you are considered meaningful in your eyes. My aunt considers being healthy important to her so its part of what some people take as a meaningful life. Someone told me that a meaningful life is meeting your goals, or having them, and it gives a direction for people. For my aunt..it is a goal to take care of herself so its part of what she thinks is meaningful. During dinner politics came up, and the question of whether Sarah Palin was actually as stupid as portrayed. This isn't really a ritual with my family since sometimes we just have dinner with our immediate family instead of gathering every Thanksgiving. But this says something about how people do want to remain connect with their family which why there's aways these meet-ups, where everyone gathers to have dinner. Its an attempt at reconnection.
After dinner, I noticed a commercial for sales on Friday, it was for a Kohl's commercial bout a 5am special of 20% of already 60% off items. It strikes me as part of the American culture for consumerism, where people desire more and better things, and new is considered better. As mentioned in class...this might be part of a desire to seek fulfillment and happiness through buying things because its a temporary fix. People exercise that method of finding happiness since they haven't found a more permanent one. Its a throwaway culture that makes it really hard for anything to be anything but temporary.
I didn't buy anything for Black Friday, but my Mom and little brother went to Century 21 and my little brother bought some t-shirts. I was kind of tired of shopping and buying things, and guess I celebrated "Buy Nothing Day". There was alot of people at Century 21 even at 8:00 at night. After Black Friday my friends told me me about these sales that they went to on Black Friday at stores like Aristople and Forever21. Its another show for consumerism but I don't really fault them for it as its something everyone does, and its part of American Culture to shop.
My aunt made a lot of stuff during for Thanksgiving dinner. I think she's very into health because she made low-fat healthy dishes, so taking care of herself is important to her. She also exercises a lot and likes to wear tracksuits. I think meaning is created by yourself, and those things that are important to you are considered meaningful in your eyes. My aunt considers being healthy important to her so its part of what some people take as a meaningful life. Someone told me that a meaningful life is meeting your goals, or having them, and it gives a direction for people. For my aunt..it is a goal to take care of herself so its part of what she thinks is meaningful. During dinner politics came up, and the question of whether Sarah Palin was actually as stupid as portrayed. This isn't really a ritual with my family since sometimes we just have dinner with our immediate family instead of gathering every Thanksgiving. But this says something about how people do want to remain connect with their family which why there's aways these meet-ups, where everyone gathers to have dinner. Its an attempt at reconnection.
After dinner, I noticed a commercial for sales on Friday, it was for a Kohl's commercial bout a 5am special of 20% of already 60% off items. It strikes me as part of the American culture for consumerism, where people desire more and better things, and new is considered better. As mentioned in class...this might be part of a desire to seek fulfillment and happiness through buying things because its a temporary fix. People exercise that method of finding happiness since they haven't found a more permanent one. Its a throwaway culture that makes it really hard for anything to be anything but temporary.
I didn't buy anything for Black Friday, but my Mom and little brother went to Century 21 and my little brother bought some t-shirts. I was kind of tired of shopping and buying things, and guess I celebrated "Buy Nothing Day". There was alot of people at Century 21 even at 8:00 at night. After Black Friday my friends told me me about these sales that they went to on Black Friday at stores like Aristople and Forever21. Its another show for consumerism but I don't really fault them for it as its something everyone does, and its part of American Culture to shop.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Edited and Updated Draft
We're always searching for something to make our lives "complete" and it seems to me that people have fixated on an idea of what it means live a meaningful life that will bring fulfillment to them. This idea is something that we take in from our culture and shapes our definition of what meaning is. There are different views as to what that is, but many of them have the same idea because we base what we think from what we know, which is our culture. It’s like a cycle that is repeated with each generation and as the times change, it is tweaked but stays basically the same. A lot of the times the messages we get from different sources are contradictory and it’s up to us to choose what we want to take in and what we don’t want apart of our psyche. Big Subculture, Corporate Culture, and Folk Culture are sources from where we get ideas of how to live a good and meaningful life.
This isn't exactly a bad thing, because we have to get our ideals, and thought processes from somewhere, and if not from media, we would probably be influenced by something else, like society. During a time in the 20th century when technology had not progressed like it has now, the culture's message was based on society and to a large part, religion which is part of the Big Subcultures. Since the message was that Men were seen as better or at a higher status then women (interpreted from the bible by men), everyone thought that it was true and abided by that train of thought. Culturally speaking, meaningful was a woman staying home by the hearth and taking care of the children. Girls grew up like that excepting that eventually when they come to a certain point of their lives they will settle down and take care of the children. So, for a long time it was like that before someone thought to question the way it has always been. Change in what we think is meaningful or not is largely due to circumstance, and circumstance demanded for change. When World War I came alot of the men were drafted. Because of the large demand of jobs and not enough men to fill the positions, it was women who for the first time were accepted into the work force in large numbers. This expanded their views because as that became acceptable what was meaningful started to change for women. That they have this opportunity, our culture had to adapt and accept that meaning can be found at work too and that settling down isn't necessarily the only way to a meaningful life. Like that meaning can change and adapt to include our circumstances. Even now, we still get the idea that settling down and starting a family is part of what we should do to have a meaningful life, but it is not limited to just that idea anymore.
Even though my idea of a meaningful life is partial to what media and society tells me, I can decide what I want to believe, because otherwise its just taking in things mindlessly without questioning whether its true or not and applying it mindlessly as well. There are messages that strike true for me and there are messages that I do not believe in at all, like . To me a meaningful life is very much apart of what relationships we create and shape with others. It’s also contentment and
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis.
Human connection is very innate. Even as children we start forming relationships with our family or friends. Part of that is through imitation, but the other part is inimitable, the feelings we draw from it. That is something that many people would agree to be meaningful, whether it come from family of friends.
Corporate Media sends us many different messages on what it means to live a meaningful life. Because Corporate Bias is owned by corporations, messages are often reported in a way that oftentimes favors the interests of the owners of news media or its advertisers. In ads from corporate message, they show us an image of what we should want and what we should be, by suggesting that this is what we are not, and that we can be that by buying their products. These kinds of ads play on people's insecurities and works, simply by saying that we need it for our lives to be meaningful. “Advertisements sell a lot more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be” (Kilbourne). They tell us what is or is not meaningful in life through these ideas of “success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy”.
If you look in any magazine there are ads that tell us to buy something. One such ad can be found in Businessweek, Nov. 10, 2008 issue, on page 72 where we can see a picturesque scene of roomy indoor cabins and red wine in a plane, decorated in a comfy and luxurious way. This ad, like many others, sends the message that money and luxury is part of having a meaningful life, being able to afford "the best" means that we are successful. The ad talks about how it is the 'greenest' in its class playing on a trend towards caring for the planet. Being from corporate media the ad is aimed to get consumers and does that by sending the message that lavishness and extravagance will grant us that.
Even the music videos that are watched in entertainment send us a message that having alot of money to buy things with is important to living a good and meaningful life. In The Good Life by Kanye West the video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life. When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine". The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a low-cut shirt, etc. There are pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money.
"Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV"
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on TV all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
"I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate"
He no longer thinks the criticisms of others is important. It’s a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it a lot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will".
Strangers, Family, and Friends all have different views on the meaning of life. For this project we had to ask people who we knew well and people we didn’t really know at all what their perspective on meaning was. I asked them what they defined meaning as, what they found to be a meaningful part of their lives, and how they much meaning they thought they had in their lives.
People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be complete of have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful. It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the pursuit of happiness, as well as in our constitution (Declaration of Independence). Closeness and happiness is something that people find meaningful, whether it is because of our culture or something else, family and friends seem to be a part of that equation.
Most of the people we asked seemed interested in our project and gave thoughtful answers in response to our questions. I think the wiser answers in these interviews came from people of age, and they seemed to be affected by how they were brought up. The middle aged man, who was dressed in a business suit and seemed to come from a well off family, said that he thought education as well as family was important when asked about what was meaningful in life he said it was. When we asked people if we thought they were wise the people in the twenties often replied no, because a majority of people think that wisdom comes from age and experiences. But despite any differences of age or upbringing the way people thought about meaning were along the same lines.
"We determine meaning based on the function it serves in our lives" (Synder) could be the reason for why people feel the way they do about what they think is or isn’t meaningful. The People I had interviewed seemed to derive meaning in that way as well. The middle age old man obviously felt strongly about how much his family meant to him, so we can also see that it playing a large role in his life made him feel that it was something that was meaningful. His family made him happy and was a positive function his life and was how he determined that to be meaningful. The guy on the bike thought that human drama was not meaningful because it was function that detracted from his life was the grounds for why he thought it was not meaningful.
This isn't exactly a bad thing, because we have to get our ideals, and thought processes from somewhere, and if not from media, we would probably be influenced by something else, like society. During a time in the 20th century when technology had not progressed like it has now, the culture's message was based on society and to a large part, religion which is part of the Big Subcultures. Since the message was that Men were seen as better or at a higher status then women (interpreted from the bible by men), everyone thought that it was true and abided by that train of thought. Culturally speaking, meaningful was a woman staying home by the hearth and taking care of the children. Girls grew up like that excepting that eventually when they come to a certain point of their lives they will settle down and take care of the children. So, for a long time it was like that before someone thought to question the way it has always been. Change in what we think is meaningful or not is largely due to circumstance, and circumstance demanded for change. When World War I came alot of the men were drafted. Because of the large demand of jobs and not enough men to fill the positions, it was women who for the first time were accepted into the work force in large numbers. This expanded their views because as that became acceptable what was meaningful started to change for women. That they have this opportunity, our culture had to adapt and accept that meaning can be found at work too and that settling down isn't necessarily the only way to a meaningful life. Like that meaning can change and adapt to include our circumstances. Even now, we still get the idea that settling down and starting a family is part of what we should do to have a meaningful life, but it is not limited to just that idea anymore.
Even though my idea of a meaningful life is partial to what media and society tells me, I can decide what I want to believe, because otherwise its just taking in things mindlessly without questioning whether its true or not and applying it mindlessly as well. There are messages that strike true for me and there are messages that I do not believe in at all, like . To me a meaningful life is very much apart of what relationships we create and shape with others. It’s also contentment and
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis.
Human connection is very innate. Even as children we start forming relationships with our family or friends. Part of that is through imitation, but the other part is inimitable, the feelings we draw from it. That is something that many people would agree to be meaningful, whether it come from family of friends.
Corporate Media sends us many different messages on what it means to live a meaningful life. Because Corporate Bias is owned by corporations, messages are often reported in a way that oftentimes favors the interests of the owners of news media or its advertisers. In ads from corporate message, they show us an image of what we should want and what we should be, by suggesting that this is what we are not, and that we can be that by buying their products. These kinds of ads play on people's insecurities and works, simply by saying that we need it for our lives to be meaningful. “Advertisements sell a lot more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be” (Kilbourne). They tell us what is or is not meaningful in life through these ideas of “success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy”.
If you look in any magazine there are ads that tell us to buy something. One such ad can be found in Businessweek, Nov. 10, 2008 issue, on page 72 where we can see a picturesque scene of roomy indoor cabins and red wine in a plane, decorated in a comfy and luxurious way. This ad, like many others, sends the message that money and luxury is part of having a meaningful life, being able to afford "the best" means that we are successful. The ad talks about how it is the 'greenest' in its class playing on a trend towards caring for the planet. Being from corporate media the ad is aimed to get consumers and does that by sending the message that lavishness and extravagance will grant us that.
Even the music videos that are watched in entertainment send us a message that having alot of money to buy things with is important to living a good and meaningful life. In The Good Life by Kanye West the video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life. When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine". The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a low-cut shirt, etc. There are pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money.
"Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV"
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on TV all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
"I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate"
He no longer thinks the criticisms of others is important. It’s a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it a lot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will".
Strangers, Family, and Friends all have different views on the meaning of life. For this project we had to ask people who we knew well and people we didn’t really know at all what their perspective on meaning was. I asked them what they defined meaning as, what they found to be a meaningful part of their lives, and how they much meaning they thought they had in their lives.
People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be complete of have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful. It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the pursuit of happiness, as well as in our constitution (Declaration of Independence). Closeness and happiness is something that people find meaningful, whether it is because of our culture or something else, family and friends seem to be a part of that equation.
Most of the people we asked seemed interested in our project and gave thoughtful answers in response to our questions. I think the wiser answers in these interviews came from people of age, and they seemed to be affected by how they were brought up. The middle aged man, who was dressed in a business suit and seemed to come from a well off family, said that he thought education as well as family was important when asked about what was meaningful in life he said it was. When we asked people if we thought they were wise the people in the twenties often replied no, because a majority of people think that wisdom comes from age and experiences. But despite any differences of age or upbringing the way people thought about meaning were along the same lines.
"We determine meaning based on the function it serves in our lives" (Synder) could be the reason for why people feel the way they do about what they think is or isn’t meaningful. The People I had interviewed seemed to derive meaning in that way as well. The middle age old man obviously felt strongly about how much his family meant to him, so we can also see that it playing a large role in his life made him feel that it was something that was meaningful. His family made him happy and was a positive function his life and was how he determined that to be meaningful. The guy on the bike thought that human drama was not meaningful because it was function that detracted from his life was the grounds for why he thought it was not meaningful.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Reaction to 2008 Election
Yesterday, was a very historical moment when Barack Obama was named as president. Watching the votes being counted on tv was pretty exciting even though I expected Obama to win, because right now we're living in history in the making. I don't think that he'll be able to solve all the things he promised in the first year and he admits to that and its reasonable because this is a big problem, not just one that can be solved so simply. He knows and acknowledges that but I wonder if the rest of the americans will. Learning about the amount of people who didn't vote for him was pretty close in some cases and its a bit surprising. Not to knock anyone but he seems to be the more stable and secure canadate when compared to McCain. McCain's choice of selecting Palin being one example of this, seemed very random and not thought out at all. But I digress.
I stayed up and caught a bit of McCain's speech and felt that he seemed accepting of his defeat and that the "boos" of the McCain supporters were very immature and stupid. He seemed very human for the first time throughout the entire campaign. I guess people say that history should remember him for this speech rather than the attack ads and maybe that's true. It doesn't completely revert the image that I have of him, based on the campaign he has run, but it helps.
I stayed up and caught a bit of McCain's speech and felt that he seemed accepting of his defeat and that the "boos" of the McCain supporters were very immature and stupid. He seemed very human for the first time throughout the entire campaign. I guess people say that history should remember him for this speech rather than the attack ads and maybe that's true. It doesn't completely revert the image that I have of him, based on the campaign he has run, but it helps.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Meaning and Good Life Essay Draft 1
We're always searching for something to make our lives "complete" and it seems to me that people have fixated on an idea of what it means live a meaningful life that will bring fulfillment to them. This idea is something that we take in from our culture and shapes our definition of what meaning is. There are different views as to what that is, but many of them have the same idea because we base what we think from what we know, which is our culture. Its like a cycle, that is repeated with each generation, and as the times change, it is tweaked but stays basically the same. Big Subculture, Corporate Culture, and Folk Culture are the ones where we get the idea of what is meaningful or not from.
This isn't exactly a bad thing, because we have to get our ideals, and thought processes from somewhere, and if not from media, we would probably be influenced by something else, like society. During a time in the 20th century when technology had not progressed like it has now, the culture's message was based on society and to a large part, religion which is part of the Big Subcultures. Since the message was that Men were seen as better or at a higher status then women (interpreted from the bible by men), everyone thought that it was true and abided by that train of thought. Culturely speaking, meaningful was a woman staying home by the hearth and taking care of the children. Girls grew up like that excepting that eventually when they come to a certain point of their lives they will settle down and take care of the children. So, for a long time it was like that before someone thought to question the way it has always been. Change in what we think is meaningful or not is largely due to circumstance, and circumstance demanded for change. When World War I came alot of the men were drafted. Because of the large demand of jobs and not enough men to fill the positions, it was women who for the first time were accepted into the work force in large numbers. This expanded their views because as that became acceptable what was meaningful started to change for women. That they have this oppurtunity, our culture had to adapt and accept that meaning can be found at work too and that settling down isn't necessarily the only way to a meaningful life. Like that meaning can change and adapt to include our circumstances. Even now, we still get the idea that settling down and starting a family is part of what we should do to have a meaningful life, but it is not limited to just that idea anymore.
Of course my idea of a meaningful life is partial to what media and society tells me, but there's always more to it than that. To me a meaningful life is very much apart of what relationships we create and shape with others. Its also contentment and
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis.
Human connection is very innate. Even as children we start forming relationships with our family or friends. Part of that is through imitation, but the other part is unimitable, the feelings we draw from it. That is something that many people would agree to be meaningful, whether it come from family of friends.
Corporate Media sends us alot of different messages on what it means to live a meaningful life. Because Corporate Culture is aimed to sell, alot of what they tell us is biased towards certain messages. Often in these ads from corporate message, they show us an image of what we should want and what we should be, by suggesting that this is what we are not, and that by buying these products we can be. These kind of ads plays on people's insecurities and works, simply by saying that we need it for our lives to be meaningful.
If you look in any magazine there are ads that tell us to buy something. One such ad can be found in Businessweek, the issue on Nov. 10, 2008, page 72 where we can see a picturesque scene of roomy indoor cabins and red wine in a plane, decorated in a comfy and luxurious way. This ad, like many others, sends the message that money and luxury is part of having a meaningful life, being able to afford "the best". The ad talks about how it is the 'greenest' in its class playing on a trend towards caring for the planet. Being from corporate media the ad is aimed to get consumers and does that by sending the message that lavishness and extravagance will grant us that.
Even the music videos that is watched in entertainment sends us a message that having alot of money to buy things with is important to living a good and meaningful life. In The Good Life by Kenye West the video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life.When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine". The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a lowcut shirt, etc. Theres pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money.
"Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV"
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on tv all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
"I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate"
He no longer thinks the criticisms of others is important. I thinks thats a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it a lot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will".
This isn't exactly a bad thing, because we have to get our ideals, and thought processes from somewhere, and if not from media, we would probably be influenced by something else, like society. During a time in the 20th century when technology had not progressed like it has now, the culture's message was based on society and to a large part, religion which is part of the Big Subcultures. Since the message was that Men were seen as better or at a higher status then women (interpreted from the bible by men), everyone thought that it was true and abided by that train of thought. Culturely speaking, meaningful was a woman staying home by the hearth and taking care of the children. Girls grew up like that excepting that eventually when they come to a certain point of their lives they will settle down and take care of the children. So, for a long time it was like that before someone thought to question the way it has always been. Change in what we think is meaningful or not is largely due to circumstance, and circumstance demanded for change. When World War I came alot of the men were drafted. Because of the large demand of jobs and not enough men to fill the positions, it was women who for the first time were accepted into the work force in large numbers. This expanded their views because as that became acceptable what was meaningful started to change for women. That they have this oppurtunity, our culture had to adapt and accept that meaning can be found at work too and that settling down isn't necessarily the only way to a meaningful life. Like that meaning can change and adapt to include our circumstances. Even now, we still get the idea that settling down and starting a family is part of what we should do to have a meaningful life, but it is not limited to just that idea anymore.
Of course my idea of a meaningful life is partial to what media and society tells me, but there's always more to it than that. To me a meaningful life is very much apart of what relationships we create and shape with others. Its also contentment and
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis.
Human connection is very innate. Even as children we start forming relationships with our family or friends. Part of that is through imitation, but the other part is unimitable, the feelings we draw from it. That is something that many people would agree to be meaningful, whether it come from family of friends.
Corporate Media sends us alot of different messages on what it means to live a meaningful life. Because Corporate Culture is aimed to sell, alot of what they tell us is biased towards certain messages. Often in these ads from corporate message, they show us an image of what we should want and what we should be, by suggesting that this is what we are not, and that by buying these products we can be. These kind of ads plays on people's insecurities and works, simply by saying that we need it for our lives to be meaningful.
If you look in any magazine there are ads that tell us to buy something. One such ad can be found in Businessweek, the issue on Nov. 10, 2008, page 72 where we can see a picturesque scene of roomy indoor cabins and red wine in a plane, decorated in a comfy and luxurious way. This ad, like many others, sends the message that money and luxury is part of having a meaningful life, being able to afford "the best". The ad talks about how it is the 'greenest' in its class playing on a trend towards caring for the planet. Being from corporate media the ad is aimed to get consumers and does that by sending the message that lavishness and extravagance will grant us that.
Even the music videos that is watched in entertainment sends us a message that having alot of money to buy things with is important to living a good and meaningful life. In The Good Life by Kenye West the video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life.When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine". The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a lowcut shirt, etc. Theres pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money.
"Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV"
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on tv all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
"I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate"
He no longer thinks the criticisms of others is important. I thinks thats a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it a lot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will".
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Assignment 5- Other Analysis of Popculture
This is for "All You need is Love"
Reiko
I agree that the meaning of the song is that love is what people need to live a meaningful life. It was kind of confusing to me too, when they said you can learn to play this game, like what did they mean by that? the game of love? life? If it is the game of love...then I thought it might be saying that its something you can win or lose because games usually have a winner...I don't see why love has to be a game either because its supposedly this wonderful thing in which both people benifit. I also like your analysis because it raises alot of interesting questions.
This is for "My Lipgloss"
Jace
I agree with your analysis of the video that good looks are something that it says is important in life. That there wasn't any ugly people was a pretty good point because people usually accept that the people in the video are there and don't really notice explicitly how they're like. There was also the dean or the principle in the video, and even though he isn't umm attractive he was also getting into the dancing too, so I think there's probably more to the message.
Henry
I thought it was interesting what you said about the end, how no body really knows anything about her besides her lip gloss. The analysis that you have is very clear that the message was that possessions are important to having a good life.
Reiko
I agree that the meaning of the song is that love is what people need to live a meaningful life. It was kind of confusing to me too, when they said you can learn to play this game, like what did they mean by that? the game of love? life? If it is the game of love...then I thought it might be saying that its something you can win or lose because games usually have a winner...I don't see why love has to be a game either because its supposedly this wonderful thing in which both people benifit. I also like your analysis because it raises alot of interesting questions.
This is for "My Lipgloss"
Jace
I agree with your analysis of the video that good looks are something that it says is important in life. That there wasn't any ugly people was a pretty good point because people usually accept that the people in the video are there and don't really notice explicitly how they're like. There was also the dean or the principle in the video, and even though he isn't umm attractive he was also getting into the dancing too, so I think there's probably more to the message.
Henry
I thought it was interesting what you said about the end, how no body really knows anything about her besides her lip gloss. The analysis that you have is very clear that the message was that possessions are important to having a good life.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Messages on the Good & Meaningful Life from Popular Culture - Part 1
The Good Life-Kenye West
1. What is the song basically saying about how to live a good life? Paraphrase the main idea.
The Video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life.
2. What lyrics particularly speak to that perspective?
When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine".
3. How do the video images support, re-orient, or challenge the dominant theme of the lyrics?
The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a lowcut shirt, etc. Theres pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money.
4. What else do you notice that's interesting? Look for internal contradictions, aspects of the message that resonate with other messages from the pop culture, points that connect to your own perspective, etc.
Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on tv all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate
He no longer thinks the critism of others is important. I thinks thats a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it alot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will"
1. What is the song basically saying about how to live a good life? Paraphrase the main idea.
The Video is basically telling people that having a good life equates to having money and women. Fame and popularity and having everyone know you and being "better" than everyone else is part of living the good life, and that he has that and he is living the good life.
2. What lyrics particularly speak to that perspective?
When he sings "shit, they say the best things in life are free" its saying that obviously money and the things you can buy with them are better, "And watch the money pile up, the good life" add that money is conducive to having a good life. He also shows that women are part of it, "And she got the goods/And she got that ass, I got to look" but it seems kind of superficial because he only mentions her body and not any other attributes besides that. Having everyone know him and about him is part of the message too "Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine/Now throw your hands up in the sky" This kind of shows that, because the people, his fans, are there to listen to his music and to him "shine".
3. How do the video images support, re-orient, or challenge the dominant theme of the lyrics?
The images support the theme and message of the video by showing Kanye over a crowd of people at the same time the lyrics sing "Now throw your hands up in the sky/Now I, I go for mine, I got to shine", and many of images of women, cheerleaders, a woman in a lowcut shirt, etc. Theres pictures of money piling up, and of different places he can go to like LA or New York, or Miami because he has all this money.
4. What else do you notice that's interesting? Look for internal contradictions, aspects of the message that resonate with other messages from the pop culture, points that connect to your own perspective, etc.
Welcome to the good life
Where we like the girls who ain't on TV
Its funny to them the "good life" starts where they no longer want the "hot" models on tv all the boys go after and the other messages usually tell people that those are the girls other girls want to be like and boys want to "get with".
I don't think he should
50 told me go 'head switch the style up
And if they hate then let 'em hate
He no longer thinks the critism of others is important. I thinks thats a good message because you can't control how others will think of you, so accepting that what will happen will happen makes it alot easier when it does happen. The good life is the point where you can "do as you will"
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Many Views on Meaning and Wisdom- Assignment #3 Final Draft
Strangers, Family, and Friends all have different views on the meaning of life. For this project we had to ask people who we knew well and people we didn’t really know at all what their perspective on meaning was. I asked them what they defined meaning as, what they found to be a meaningful part of their lives, and how they much meaning they thought they had in their lives.
People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be complete of have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful. It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the pursuit of happiness, as well as in our constitution (John Adams). Closeness and happiness is something that people find meaningful, whether it is because of our culture or something else, family and friends seem to be a part of that equation.
Most of the people we asked seemed interested in our project and gave thoughtful answers in response to our questions. I think the wiser answers in these interviews came from people of age, and they seemed to be affected by how they were brought up. The middle aged man, who was dressed in a business suit and seemed to come from a well off family, said that he thought education as well as family was important when asked about what was meaningful in life he said it was. When we asked people if we thought they were wise the people in the twenties often replied no, because a majority of people think that wisdom comes from age and experiences. (Although a 7th grader we asked thought he was wise although he did not really know what wisdom was). But despite any differences of age or upbringing the way people thought about meaning were along the same lines.
"We determine meaning based on the function it serves in our lives" was an interesting and true comment on how we decide what is or is not meaningful I heard in class from one Andy Synder. The People I had interviewed..
People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be complete of have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful. It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the pursuit of happiness, as well as in our constitution (John Adams). Closeness and happiness is something that people find meaningful, whether it is because of our culture or something else, family and friends seem to be a part of that equation.
Most of the people we asked seemed interested in our project and gave thoughtful answers in response to our questions. I think the wiser answers in these interviews came from people of age, and they seemed to be affected by how they were brought up. The middle aged man, who was dressed in a business suit and seemed to come from a well off family, said that he thought education as well as family was important when asked about what was meaningful in life he said it was. When we asked people if we thought they were wise the people in the twenties often replied no, because a majority of people think that wisdom comes from age and experiences. (Although a 7th grader we asked thought he was wise although he did not really know what wisdom was). But despite any differences of age or upbringing the way people thought about meaning were along the same lines.
"We determine meaning based on the function it serves in our lives" was an interesting and true comment on how we decide what is or is not meaningful I heard in class from one Andy Synder. The People I had interviewed..
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Assignment 3; Many views on Meaning and Wisdom
Strangers, Family, and Friends all have different views on the meaning of life. People seem to see it along the same lines on what is or is not meaningful. Almost all the people I've talked to say that family is a very meaningful part of life, one or two add that "human connection or being part of the larger community" is also something that is meaningful as well. When asked what made family, or friends so meaningful to them, a middle aged man said that it was because of everything that they have shared together and how they supported each other and just the love, which was along the same lines of 1/4th of the people I have asked had said. They found their lives to be pretty meaningful, people who were able to scale the meaning in their lives all said it was a 7-10 based on what they found was meaningful. The people who felt that they have fulfilled or already had what they thought was meaningful in their lives tended to think their lives were more meaningful. I thought this was interesting because one lady we met who was walking her dog said something that connected to this point. We had asked her whether she viewed her life as more meaningful than someone else's and she said that while happiness and security was meaningful to her life everyone needs different things to fulfill them and because of that it's up to them to determine. When viewed in this way meaning is something that is subjective because it is a personal matter.
2/8ths of the people interviewed mentioned goals as something they found as meaningful because it gave them a feeling of accomplishment and having goals and reaching those goals were rewarding. I thought about this and if meaning is viewed in goals, you would never be completely have a “10” on the meaning scale because you are always striving to reach that goal, but once you’ve reached it your done, and you no longer have a goal because it is complete. I think goals are good, so if meaning were to be defined like this, a person must constantly make new goals for themselves to reach.
A small consensus of people found that catty people who judge other people were a meaningless part of life, because it was an unimportant aspect of life and getting caught up in "quintessential human drama" (Guy with bike) which is like the catty people comment since that is part of the "quintessential human drama". Another consensus of an equal amount came to the conclusion that money was meaningless because quote "it screws things up" (Guy on Ipod).
A pattern I noticed is that what makes someone happy is a part of what they think is meaningful, because why not, if we are to eventually die, why not die happy? It is something that is ingrained in modern life, the search for happiness, as well as in our constitution (John Adams). That is part of the reason family and friends are part of what we find is meaningful in our lives, because they make us happy and that's why I think people had said that.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Video/Writing Project 1- Assignment 2
:::COMMENTS:::
~~Kate~~
I really like the picture of the cat and the mom with the little boy. It was very cute and the song is pretty good too.
**Maxiel**
I thought the family thing was a great point and you explained it pretty well.
~~John li~~
wow. I liked how you used the guitar music and transitioned it into the background music and the way you used video and pictures together was good. I agree w/ maxie and kate the black and white photos
were a nice touch.
**Rachel**
thanks Rachel, I like the pictures of your cat, it is so adorable xD lol and the music
~~Reiko~~
Hi Reiko, I liked your use of markers to write the title and intro, because that really connects to your topic, and the all the photos look really nice and professional.
"Insights"
1.I noticed that most of the videos I saw had topics of family and friends as something that is meaningful to them.
2.Also alot of people used music and video effects to add to their videos. 3. Pets are meaningful to people and their friends. It seems like they find their relationships with others meaningful, whether it is people or pets.
~~Kate~~
I really like the picture of the cat and the mom with the little boy. It was very cute and the song is pretty good too.
**Maxiel**
I thought the family thing was a great point and you explained it pretty well.
~~John li~~
wow. I liked how you used the guitar music and transitioned it into the background music and the way you used video and pictures together was good. I agree w/ maxie and kate the black and white photos
were a nice touch.
**Rachel**
thanks Rachel, I like the pictures of your cat, it is so adorable xD lol and the music
~~Reiko~~
Hi Reiko, I liked your use of markers to write the title and intro, because that really connects to your topic, and the all the photos look really nice and professional.
"Insights"
1.I noticed that most of the videos I saw had topics of family and friends as something that is meaningful to them.
2.Also alot of people used music and video effects to add to their videos. 3. Pets are meaningful to people and their friends. It seems like they find their relationships with others meaningful, whether it is people or pets.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Guiding Questions for Video/Writing Project 1 - Self
What i think is meaningful in my life:
Description
1. In my video I have pictures of family, friends, art, and nature. Its like in chapters, in the photos of my family, there are pictures of my mom and my little brother in Virginia. There's one with my brother and me in an eggshell with blue dinosaurs where we went to the amusement park and my mom and I at the beach. It was one of those short bus trips where the ride to a place was as long as the time we got to spend in it. The part with my friends have different people from school and one or two I met in middle school. Its a lot of people who are my classmates. I have photos of nature, some are from the ocean, and this bridge on top of the ocean in Virginia that seemed to stretch for miles. A lot of photos of plants and gardens come from places near my neighborhood. In the art section of the video there are Greek Statues, one of Poseidon, another of Athena and another of Artemis because at one time they meant something to people, religiously or personally and they still do. The same is true of the wall mural, it makes people think if they are willing to find its message.
2. These topics are pretty meaningful to me because our family is there for many moments in our lives and make up a big chunk of our lives. The same is true for our friends. My best friend makes me laugh and is someone I can be silly with, and who cheers me up when things aren’t so good. That's what friends are for and why they're so important. In my video there are pictures of nature because it’s very beautiful to me. It can be at times wild and untouched while other times it's cultivated and tamed, but always beautiful. Art is a relatively meaningless because most people don’t really take notice of it and ignore it, but it could be meaningful if they see something that they could connect with and take in.
3. I wanted to include another person in the friends picture but I wasn't able to get their picture in time because they were busy with school but if I could I would've liked to have included their picture. Also there was an amazing picture of the sunset and the ocean that I took in Florida with my brother’s phone and it would've been cool to put that in too, seeing the actual thing was absolutely breathtaking.Analysis and Insight
Analysis and Insight
4. The main criteria for the video were emotional and personal interest. So it was based on how it made me feel.
5. A pattern that I could see was that a lot of the subjects I chose were that it was based on my relationship with them. Like my family and friends are people who I am close with and enjoy being with and that for me made them meaningful in my life. The same is true with nature because I like being in nature, with trees and greenery or water and sand. What I find meaningless is stagnation, no change in anything. That’s probably why I find all the other subjects in my video meaningful because they always change, people are always changing, nature is in constant motion, and ideas flow.
6. The video is fairly accurate, though that was the first time I went to Virginia, I do take trips with my family once a year (usually to visit family in Florida or China). It doesn’t really make me seem exciting, honestly sometimes I can be boring if I felt like it; there was one picture of Regina (the girl in the purple) where we were at a book store, and that’s what I usually do with my free-time, I go with her to the park, the bookstore, or to get something to eat. The rest of the pictures are with people in the school.
7. From an outside perspective I think people would find some of the subjects meaningful because most people have family and friends as a topic that they find meaningful. But art and nature is more of an inside perspective because not everyone might find these things meaningful. Someone could see splatters of color and think, that’s just splatters of color, others could see emotion or meaning in something that abstract, who’s to say? , but it’s more of someone’s viewpoint in whether they would find that meaningful or not.
8. Questions… I have a hundred and yet I have none. =P that sounds quite deep xD. But really, what constitutes something as meaningful and something else as meaningless?
Description
1. In my video I have pictures of family, friends, art, and nature. Its like in chapters, in the photos of my family, there are pictures of my mom and my little brother in Virginia. There's one with my brother and me in an eggshell with blue dinosaurs where we went to the amusement park and my mom and I at the beach. It was one of those short bus trips where the ride to a place was as long as the time we got to spend in it. The part with my friends have different people from school and one or two I met in middle school. Its a lot of people who are my classmates. I have photos of nature, some are from the ocean, and this bridge on top of the ocean in Virginia that seemed to stretch for miles. A lot of photos of plants and gardens come from places near my neighborhood. In the art section of the video there are Greek Statues, one of Poseidon, another of Athena and another of Artemis because at one time they meant something to people, religiously or personally and they still do. The same is true of the wall mural, it makes people think if they are willing to find its message.
2. These topics are pretty meaningful to me because our family is there for many moments in our lives and make up a big chunk of our lives. The same is true for our friends. My best friend makes me laugh and is someone I can be silly with, and who cheers me up when things aren’t so good. That's what friends are for and why they're so important. In my video there are pictures of nature because it’s very beautiful to me. It can be at times wild and untouched while other times it's cultivated and tamed, but always beautiful. Art is a relatively meaningless because most people don’t really take notice of it and ignore it, but it could be meaningful if they see something that they could connect with and take in.
3. I wanted to include another person in the friends picture but I wasn't able to get their picture in time because they were busy with school but if I could I would've liked to have included their picture. Also there was an amazing picture of the sunset and the ocean that I took in Florida with my brother’s phone and it would've been cool to put that in too, seeing the actual thing was absolutely breathtaking.Analysis and Insight
Analysis and Insight
4. The main criteria for the video were emotional and personal interest. So it was based on how it made me feel.
5. A pattern that I could see was that a lot of the subjects I chose were that it was based on my relationship with them. Like my family and friends are people who I am close with and enjoy being with and that for me made them meaningful in my life. The same is true with nature because I like being in nature, with trees and greenery or water and sand. What I find meaningless is stagnation, no change in anything. That’s probably why I find all the other subjects in my video meaningful because they always change, people are always changing, nature is in constant motion, and ideas flow.
6. The video is fairly accurate, though that was the first time I went to Virginia, I do take trips with my family once a year (usually to visit family in Florida or China). It doesn’t really make me seem exciting, honestly sometimes I can be boring if I felt like it; there was one picture of Regina (the girl in the purple) where we were at a book store, and that’s what I usually do with my free-time, I go with her to the park, the bookstore, or to get something to eat. The rest of the pictures are with people in the school.
7. From an outside perspective I think people would find some of the subjects meaningful because most people have family and friends as a topic that they find meaningful. But art and nature is more of an inside perspective because not everyone might find these things meaningful. Someone could see splatters of color and think, that’s just splatters of color, others could see emotion or meaning in something that abstract, who’s to say? , but it’s more of someone’s viewpoint in whether they would find that meaningful or not.
8. Questions… I have a hundred and yet I have none. =P that sounds quite deep xD. But really, what constitutes something as meaningful and something else as meaningless?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Video
i apologize in advance for the neon colored Chinese food. anyways thanks for watching.
quotes in video-- (why these things are meaningful)
Family the people who care about us and for us. who annoy us and who we annoy back but we love anyways.
Nature- Just look and you will know why
Friends-- the family we choose i guess i love them too (for the most part)
Hmm...art is subjective...so its meaning is subjective but you will always find meaning in it.
end quote- sometimes i think life is meaningless. there are moments
when i think its not and it is these moments that make life worth living
quotes in video-- (why these things are meaningful)
Family the people who care about us and for us. who annoy us and who we annoy back but we love anyways.
Nature- Just look and you will know why
Friends-- the family we choose i guess i love them too (for the most part)
Hmm...art is subjective...so its meaning is subjective but you will always find meaning in it.
end quote- sometimes i think life is meaningless. there are moments
when i think its not and it is these moments that make life worth living
Monday, September 15, 2008
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