Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the often practiced art of referencing things in other things.

The first example I will use is this image from the Simpsons. This image is a reference to the Nirvana album cover, Nevermind. The original cover featured a baby swimming towards a dollar bill on a fishing line hook.

The second example I will use is also from the Simpsons. This image is a reference to famous surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. The piece of art it is referencing is The Persistence of Memory. In the original work, the artist portrayed clocks throughout the painting melting downwards.

Looking Back

Of all the topics we covered, I feel like the one I learned the most about was Happiness. Before hand I had no idea that there are people who study the science of happiness or even that there was a science of happiness. This topic introduced words like impact bias and free choice paradigm. It also introduced the concepts of synthetic and natural happiness. This topic also introduced us to Malcolm Gladwell who is a student of Howard Moskowitz's and Dan Gilbert's way of thinking.

According to Dan Gilbert, who is somewhat of an authority on happiness, synthetic happiness is what we get when we get what we wanted but natural happiness is what we get when we don't get what we wanted. Near the end of the topic we listened to Malcolm Gladwell talk about Howard Moskowitz who was an American market researcher and psycho physicist. Moskowitz had a very different approach to his research. He came up with the idea to have not just one pepsi, but multiple; and the idea to create multiple pickle flavors including one to satisfy the need for a zesty pickle. He was always improving and never satisfied with what he had already done. He believed that the philosophy of reaching for a higher mustard was wrong. He believed that there should be multiple kinds of different people due to the fact that people don't really know what they want.

Only You Can Silence Yourself

In response to this ad, Jean Killborne would have a lot to say. First thing you will notice is that the woman in this ad is only show partially. Second, you will notice that she is crying and her hair is a mess. This portrays her as being weak. Lastly, her mouth is covered with a restraint mask, which is featured in Hannibal, not allowing her to speak. I somewhat understand what this ad is trying to say but it seems very bizarre that this is the way they wanted to portray it. I don't really fully understand why she is crying in this ad. If there was a man in this ad I seriously doubt he would be crying.

The Portrayal of Sexiness in Media

Sexiness has a ridiculous importance in our culture. Often women are portrayed as sexy in TV shows. For example in the TV show Big Bang Theory, the character Penny is portrayed as sexy and often as a bit stupid. In advertising, mostly magazine and TV ads, women are almost always portrayed as a sex symbol. In video games, a ridiculous amount of female characters are insignificant, often seen as in the way, and just there to have something to look at. While many video games portray female characters poorly, many games have decent to good portrayals of women. For example in the game Half Life 2, Alex Vance, who is still a non playable character, she is a strong character who often helps you throughout the game. Another example of a good portrayal of females in video games is from Beyond Good & Evil, which stars the female character Jade. She is not portrayed as sexy but instead rather competent and in the game smarter than her male companions. The industry could use more games like this. On the other hand, we have games like Bayonetta and Lolipop Chainsaw. It makes me sick.

Connections between Pop Culture and Happiness

Whether its TV, comics, movies, or many other varieties of popular culture we are affected every day by the media we engulf. Many people become so attached to the TV shows they watch or the books they read they become emotional due to traumatic or happy things happen. For example when someones favorite TV show ends they might be very sad because a part of their life is gone.

Many people think that this is ridiculous because its just a TV show. That point of view is very ignorant. I think the reason people become so attached to these shows is because when someone is sad they want to think about something else that they think will make them happy. This can, but not necessarily, result in a dependence of this media to the point of the sensation of feeling addicted.

Are you ready for some...FOOOOTBALLL???!!!!

On the special Frontline had called Football High, they talked about the brutal conditions of Football in one state in particular, Arkansas. Arkansas features extreme heat getting up to 108 degrees. Playing football in that kind of heat is rough and one athlete suffered a heat stroke. I think the coaches should pay more attention to the players personally.

I have nothing against Football. It's just when you play in insane conditions, for example in 108 degree heat, you should be more careful. Not just the heat gets to you, all that gear you are carrying gets very heavy and you start to get very tired. They don't say "Football isn't for the weak" for nothing.