Monday, September 30, 2013

"Football High"

     In the documentary "Football High" there are a lot of important issues that happen with being in and playing football. One important issue that the video brought up would be that playing football causes a lot of players to get concussions. There are 60,000 concussions every year in high school football. It presents this issue by talking about Garrett Harper who actually got two pretty bad concussions. The first one he got was really bad and he had to be helped off of the football field and the second one he got wasn't as bad because he could walk off the field by himself. Another important issue that the video brought up would be that getting hit in the head can cause brain damage and lead to CTE which can cause depression and suicide. It presents this issue by talking about Owen Thomas who experienced CTE and committed suicide at the age of 21.

     One big issue that the video brought up would be that football teams practice in 100 degree weather which is very dangerous and can cause players to have heat strokes. It presents this issue in two different stories. Will James suffered a heat stroke which caused his liver to have problems and he had to be put into a medically induced coma. After being in the hospital for three weeks he was released and eventually went back to play football. Tyler Davenport also suffered a heat stroke with a body temperature of 108 which caused his liver to have serious problems. After being in the hospital for six weeks he passed away. Another important issue that the video brought up would be that football teams have to many practices and no free time. It presents this issue by talking about the Shiloh football team which has team workouts for twelve months which starts as soon as the season ends and they work on being faster, better, and stronger.  

     Football is a very dangerous sport and can cause a lot of serious issues to a player. Is there a way to make is less aggressive and dangerous? That is one question the video makes people think about. Football takes a lot of time away from a player because they are always at practices or doing something with football and they could lose track of their family. Is this all really worth it? That is another question the video makes people think about.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Fake Love

        Chuck Klosterman in his article called "This is Emo" talks about the concept of fake love and how people see this in the media like movies. This concept of fake love seen in movies makes people have high expectations of how love works and they get hurt in the real world because they find out that love isn't like how it is shown in movies. Love in the real world isn't perfect because there is always some type of problem and it takes serious commitment. In the movie Titanic the characters by the name of Jack and Rose have a romantic relationship in the movie. Being on the ship they have fancy dinners and dances. They don't really have a first date considering the fact that they are on a ship but they do have sex early on in getting to know each other. They have a perfect relationship with one another even though they have to hide it from Rose's fiancĂ©. These expectations of romance are setting people up for disappointment because in real life being in a relationship isn't going to consist of going to fancy dinners and dances all the time. These expectations are also setting people up for disappointment because in real life being in a relationship doesn't usually consist of having sex right away when you meet someone. The last reason these expectations are setting people up for disappointment would be that in real life relationships aren't perfect because there are usually problems with every relationship.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Selling Sex in Advertisements


        The first thing with this advertisement that Jean Kilbourne would object to would be that the woman is sitting in a weird position posing in this car. She said that women in ads are almost always sitting in or standing in weird positions. She would object also to the fact that the woman is really thin and changed to look like she is perfect. She said that women in ads are always changed to look perfect because they can't have big thighs and waists because that simply isn't allowed. She would also object to the fact that this ad could be focusing on her breasts to try and sell the car she is sitting in. She said that women in ads usually have the ad focusing on her breasts because they can sell everything.


Monday, September 9, 2013

Sexiness in our Culture


           Sexiness right now in our culture is really important because we see people trying to be sexy on television or social media, and outside in the world around us every day. To me it seems like sexiness is more important to women than it is for men. Celebrities that we see on television every day especially the women are dressed in revealing clothing that they wear to make them look sexy and people that look up to those celebrities want to dress like them to look sexy. There are women outside around us every day that are dressed in revealing clothing because it's important for them to look sexy because it's a part of what makes them feel good about themselves every day. Sexiness right now in our culture is more important because people are becoming more open about sex and not being so embarrassed and ashamed by it. To me women are more into sexiness and its importance to our culture as a whole.

            With the whole Miley Cyrus performance on the Video Music Awards and people not liking it and complaining about her and the performance in general also had to do with the sexiness she was portraying. It was important for her as becoming a woman to be sexy and break away from being Hannah Montana. Pamela Anderson is a sexual person and isn't afraid to hide her sexual interactions with men. She represents the importance of what people see as a sexy person and look at her as a role model and want to look and be like her which can be hard. Even with celebrities it's more the women that look at sexiness and its importance to our culture.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Popular Culture and Happiness



          Popular Culture and happiness have a lot to do with one another because the things that are involved with popular culture are also things that bring happiness to people. We encounter popular culture every day with the things we do and those things can make people happy. We encounter popular culture when we are using a cell phone to communicate with friends and family which brings happiness to people because they can talk to a person that maybe they can't see every day and that is the closest thing they have to seeing that person. We encounter popular culture when going shopping by ourselves or with another person which brings happiness to people because they can let go of what is bothering them and focus on just buying something that they really want and being happy.

            We encounter popular culture when watching television or just seeing the advertisements that are played during commercials which brings happiness to some people because they love watching television and seeing the advertisements because it gives them a good laugh. Some people it doesn't bring happiness to because they simply just don't like watching television or seeing the advertisements. We encounter popular culture when listening to music which brings happiness to some people because it allows them to bring back memories of good times with friends or family members. Some people it doesn't bring happiness to because it reminds them of a friend or family member that passed away and it ends up upsetting them.

            I am engaged in texting, watching television or movies, shopping for clothes or shoes, hanging out with my friends, and being on the internet every day. All of these things that I do make me happy because I enjoy doing them. Popular Culture and happiness have a lot to do with one another because the things we do every day usually make us happy right away or later on in our lives. These things that I do every day usually make me happy right away but sometimes make me happy later on in my life.