1-3 Journal Analysis

The editorial: The Revenge of the Nerds, is a humorous look at how the name Nerd has taken a turn from a derogative statement to a descriptive word that describes a person who is outside of the norm; which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Recalling his childhood the author finds himself reminiscing about the past and finding pride in his self described nerd-ness.

The author describes growing up in the sixties colleting comic books. “I collected comic books, those wonderful Silver Age comics produced by Marvel and DC. Any kid, who collected comic books at that time, by definition among the young gatekeepers of social norms, was a nerd. It was okay to read them, bending them into unrecognizable shapes in doing so, and then dispose them. But to collect them, it was anathema among my youthful associates.”(Hoppenstand, G.) It is this kind of trivial distinction; reading versus collecting, that can draw the lines between cool and uncool in a youths mind, and caught on the wrong side of that line one can become the subject of ridicule and name calling.

Describing how the shift in the popular opinion of so called nerds has taken place, the author observes. “Now it is downright cool to be a nerd. Nerds such as George Lucas created with Star Wars one of the most profitable media franchises in history. Nerds such as Stephen King have become international bestselling authors.”(Hoppenstand, G.)

The shift continues in the prevalence of video games among youth and young adults as well as the continued need for technology and computers in the adult business world.

5-2

Rocky is a prime example of a movie that has a formula. For the sake of this paper I will call this formula the formula of the underdog movie. In its most basic form the formula goes something like this: first we would get to see the daily life of the main character and get a sense of who he/she is. In most cases this person would be disadvantaged in some way. Then the character would be put in a situation where they have the opportunity to accomplish something and transcend their disadvantaged situation.

Rocky follows this formula in the following ways. At the beginning of the film we get to see Rocky as an everyday man, and follow him through his daily activities and interactions within his social circle. Rocky is void of any extra spoils of modern life. He is the epitome of blue collar, if not a social class below. He is portrayed as an honest hard working man who although may be employed on the wrong side of the law is respected within his community and regarded as a hard worker. His life is less than ordinary, and while that is o.k. with Rocky the outlook is somewhat bleak. Then a stroke of luck. He is handpicked by the world champion himself to fight for the title. Queue montage: Rocky in true blue collar fashion begins rigorous training with primitive tools. Good old fashioned on e armed pushups and running the streets of Philadelphia. This is the part of the story that conveys that while luck has played a part in Rocky getting the opportunity to fight for the title it is his hard work and determination that will give him a fighting chance.

Although Rocky does not ultimately win the fight, he has shown that he was not a push over, and that his heart and determination was enough to score a moral victory, and win the respect of those who doubted him. In subsequent films rocky does in fact win the championship, and he does so with the same work ethic and attitude that have defined him in the first film.

The formula of the movie is still applicable in today’s movies. This is well represented in the entire Rocky series of films that have spanned thirty plus years. Time and time again Rocky has showed us to never underestimate the underdog, and that through hard work and character one can achieve greatness. This formula is played out in in numerable films, books, television show and other mediums and no matter the details of the story at hand the message is easily identifiable and at the same time relatable to the viewers own experience and beliefs. That is why it works; because it is accessible to the viewer and not foreign.

If I were the director or writer of this film, the only thing I would change is the portrayal of Rocky a sort of unintelligent character. I am not saying that he should be a scholar necessarily, but I don’t believe that the dumbing down of his character adds anything to the story, to me it seems arbitrary. Other than that the film stands the test of time and conveys a message that we can all grasp. It is an inspirational film that I can watch over and over again. The only other thing is that the actual fight scenes that take place in the ring are absolutely un realistic. There is way too much action for it to be believable and if actual boxing matches were as fast paced as those portrayed in the film the fighter would not be able to continue past the second round because of exhaustion. It is good for the movie and fun to watch, but is simply unrealistic.

5-1

Tiger Woods. Recently there has been a lot of media coverage concerning Tiger Woods. Now normally this would not be a bad thing considering woods is one of the most famous athletes the sports world has ever known. The difference this time around is the coverage is negative, and pertains to alleged extra marital affairs that he has engaged in with a number of women that seems to be climbing every day. Some of the stories that are coming out in the media are totally contradictory of the man we thought we knew. Woods has manicured possibly one of the most clean cut images a popular figure could have produced. He has been known as a fierce competitor a role model for all and a seemingly fool proof investment for companies looking for a face of their product, this all in addition to the clean, classy image of the sport in which he plays; Golf.

No doubt that Woods should have to face the music regarding his behavior; to his family. Personally I find it disturbing that someone’s personal troubles are exploited for ones viewing pleasure. This is not reality television; this is someone’s life and someone’s family. I have heard arguments that say that since Woods is famous that he has forfeited his right to privacy, and I think that is ridiculous. Just because someone is great at their job, which in his case is Golf, that does not mean that they have given up their right to privacy, or that they should be exposed to heightened media attention. Yes Wood’s actions are reprehensible; yes he will have to work this out with his family. But it is nobody’s business except theirs and if people cared at all about this family, then they would be decent enough to let this family be, and not force them to relive the situation day after day in the public eye.

4-3 Hero/Celebrity

A Hero or heroine is the name given to characters that exhibit courage in the face of danger in order to benefit the greater good; these actions are viewed as acts of heroism. Heroes can be viewed in many facets of our popular culture today. From real life events, to stories played out in movies and books heroes and the heroism myth is a prevalent storyline that continues to this day. Often times in culture people tend to emulate or idolize those who display heroism. It is also common for people in our culture to idolize or emulate celebrities. It is important for us to be able to differentiate between the two, and also be able to identify the different reasons why heroes and celebrities are often looked at as role models.

A celebrity is someone who is in the public eye that is to say that they are for one reason or another known by the majority of a culture on a superficial level. The majority of the time the celebrity is known due to their occupation. Whether the person is an artist of some sort, or professional athlete fame is what quantifies them as celebrities. Along with fame often times celebrities are extremely wealthy and garner the attention and envy of a culture. Recently a strange phenomenon has occurred where people have become celebrities without ever contributing any redeeming acts towards the culture in which they have become famous. A cultural obsession with money and wealth has created an atmosphere in which privileged recipients of generational wealth have become idolized and envied by many in our culture.

Our cultures interest in reality television I believe is birthed out of our obsession with money. In the majority of these television programs the contestants or participants are often in competition for a cash prize. For instance one popular program fills a house with strangers and at certain points throughout the show people are voted out of the house. The object of the game or show is to be the last person in the house. The winner receives a large cash prize and instant overnight stardom. I suppose that the people that participate in these reality programs do it for a number of reasons, but I believe the most reoccurring themes would be that of celebrity and financial gain.

The need for our culture to reach out for heroes and celebrities happens at different times and for different reasons. Take for instance the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The country was awe struck in fear and mourning. Soon images began to pour onto our televisions of New York City firemen. Within a matter of days these men became the face of heroism. The culture needed a strong figure to look to in a time of distress, and we gained a sense of security by identifying these men as heroes.

We live in a culture that is constantly growing more connected with technology and people are also ever willing to provide access to their daily lives via the internet. In a sense many of us have become reality stars in our own right. Status updates and random posts to social networking sites have become common place, and ones willingness to share personal details about ones life is rarely second guessed. I don’t know that this is either positive or negative, but would argue that it simply indicate4ds a shift in how we communicate with others within our culture. Personal lives as well as business are often conducted using these very impersonal tools such as E-mail, Facebook and the like. Blogs are replacing traditional news outlets and the stay at home reporters are gaining followers and fame.

I think that heroes and celebrities play an important role in our culture, but one must be careful who they put on a pedestal. I remember when I was younger I used to look up to Michael Jordan. To me Jordan exemplified greatness. He was a fierce competitor and the undisputed champion in his profession. I watched all the games and had his posters hanging in my room and bought into the “Be like Mike” campaign that was popular at the time. It wasn’t until later that I learned about Jordan’s gambling addiction, or his extra marital affairs or nay other of his human flaws. When you hold someone up as your hero you believe them to be perfect and an example of what you want to be like, and to find out that that person is flawed and imperfect can be devastating to young mind. While I still do respect Jordan it is for his accomplishments on the basketball court and I no longer wish to “Be like Mike”. In stead I wish to be like myself and strive to work towards accomplishing comparable things in my profession.

4-1

This is a topic that I don’t necessarily feel qualified to write about, but something is bothering me. On a recent shopping trip with my girlfriend I made an observation. In the several stores we went into some of the clerks and also customers were wearing glasses. I know what you’re thinking….”What you have got to be kidding me. GLASSES? Trust me I have no qualms with people wearing glasses; I do however take issue with people wearing fake glasses. These glasses I saw many people wearing I am convinced served no purpose other than aesthetic. Now I may never know for sure whether or not these people were visually impaired or not but my girlfriend showed me a display of various eyewear that were all fake, which leads me to believe that people buy them. So here’s where I am confused; don’t people who actually need glasses wear contacts so they don’t have to actually wear glasses? So why is it that people who were fortunate enough to be born with 20/20 vision put on huge, fake thick framed bifocals? What a fad! I can’t wait for this trend to reach the next level when people that don’t need to, start wearing contact lenses that do nothing, or better yet contact lenses that impair your vision so that you actually need a prescription from an optometrist. Ridiculous! What’s next fake casts, to feign injured bones. Imagine the customization on those. “Oh that broken arm really goes with those shoes”. PUUHHLEASE! If this is what’s hip, I want no part of it.