Big Paper Revised

Intro

Don’t you ever sit in class during a random discussion/ lecture and think to yourself, is my life meaningful? And the answer to that question is based on the person who is answering the question because there are a various amount of answers. Some people will give you the answer “well of course my life is meaningful just because I’m me,” there are those others who will give you the answer “I think my life is actually kind of average and that it isn’t nothing special,” and then there are those who are just like “my life don’t mean shit.” These answers come from inside and deep down where u can honestly and rationally think about life. And the answer to this has to do with a person’s situation in life. Most of the time if a person has a very rich family they feel that their life means everything, usually the middle class can go both ways, and lower class feel like shit because they have no money so they feel like they mean nothing. The reason this is, is because those with good grades and a lot of money feel that their life is going somewhere but poor people with their life in turmoil feel their lives are meaningless because they feel they are so far down the shitter and can’t get out. In my situation I feel like I’m in between the middle class perspective and the lower class perspective. The reason I think so is because my life is kind of messed up now because of my grades and that my parents keep taking things away from me. But this doesn’t mean that my life is meaningless in my eyes. To me it says my life can be more meaningful if I just do something about it. To have the most meaningful life you possibly can is by having an equal balance between dominant, folk, and forbidden messages by determining, what is most important? Dominant corporate After watching the music video, All You Need is Love; by The Beatles it gave me an entire different view of having a meaningful life. On the contrast of Kanye with being pimped out with cars, money, and ladies. The Beatles demonstrate an entirely different point of view of a meaningful life by saying to have meaning is to love. So like if you don’t love something, it doesn’t mean anything. By saying this it practically pushes aside everything that Kanye stated in his video that you need money and ladies. But The Beatles think that love makes life meaningful. That money can’t buy you happiness. It’s only that if you find something in life that’s close to you and you can live by and then you will be happy. Also in the video it was not as hyped and crazy as Kanye’s was. Kanye’s was more flashy, new, and louder. While The Beatles was a lot mellower, the music was more like a melody then a tear up the club song, and it was sending message in more harmonic way. So all together, The Beatles had a way different view on a meaningful life then Kanye did. After watching the music video, The Good Life by Kanye West I feel that this pop culture message was faced more towards the messages of corporate culture. The reason I bring this up is due to the fact the video is practically what the title of the song is “Good Life.” And Kanye West is portraying this message of a “Good Life,” to mean that you are crazy rich, have all the new technology, be pimpin’/ have lots of ladies that want you, etc. This supports corporate culture messages because in lots of magazines/ newsstands/ newspapers, the people with a “Good Life,” are the rich and powerful ones like Kanye is showing in his video. In the verse in his video where Kanye says “Y'all pop the trunk, I pop the hood, Ferrari. And she got the goods. And she got that ass, I got to look, sorry,” says that while most people will be needing help with their car and needing to pop the trunk, Kanye is showing off his hot ride by popping the hood of it to show off his nice fast engine. Then he starts talking about the ladies by stating “she got the goods. And she got that ass; I got to look, sorry.” Which is saying that a woman has a lot to show off like a big ass and other things
and if you living the “Good Life,” you have women like these. So all together, Kanye is saying the “Good Life,” is to pimped out with money, cars, and ladies.

Corporate misery

While our discussions of having a good and meaningful life came the idea of misery. The theory that all lives must follow this line of corporate misery and we just use their products to get happy. Like the company Apple for instance. If you feel bad inside because you can’t listen to your music on the go, Apple will tell you to buy one of our music products such as the I-phone, I-Touch, and IPod Nano in order to get happy so you can listen to music on the go. But then you will feel like crap again when they come out with a new piece of “I,” technology and you say to yourself that you want that instead of what you got and then feel like crap because you can’t get it. So we people in the world follow this line of products as distractions to make us happy. Another theory of misery that I have is the idea that life is meant to be miserable. And people reading this might say to themselves, “Well I’m happy, I feel no misery.” But the fact is that if a person’s life was a “perfect fit,” for them, in my opinion life would just feel like it would have no meaning and just be plain out boring. The reason that in life when we are having fun and don’t want to stop it is because we want to stay distracted from the bad. But if there was no bad, there would be no reason to good and vice versa. It is all the bad times that make the good times feel so much more special. For me it has to do with my want to not be in school and rather being out doing something that I’m interested in more. But I think if life was like that and I was allowed to do what I wanted all the time without do consequence, I would believe it would get boring because I would be doing it so much. All that time of being bored and having that “I can’t wait to do this,” feeling and then actually doing what you wanted to do feel totally awesome. In my case for example, a couple of weeks ago I got tickets to the Cowboys vs. Giants game for a Sunday afternoon. And I knew I was going with someone who is a very special person in my life and that I’ve known since middle school. And the Tuesday I found out she could go made it extra exciting to see my favorite football team for the first time against our NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys knowing that I was going with someone who is special. But the part the spiced up this excitement that led to a great time and a great game was that school misery I had/ still have. That feeling of being totally bored the majority of my week and then being able to have the experience of a lifetime with someone who is special and had a great time too was a great experience. But having these great experiences isn’t always a good thing. The reason is that even though we don’t want it like this but to some, having too many good experiences can be bad things. The reason is that if you get too used to the good, you will forget how to cope with the bad and it can lead to an endless list of consequences depending on the person. To some it might lead to getting down and negative about an issue and took others it might lead to crazy aggression. This isn’t saying that having good is a bad thing, but having too much good and then just losing all or most of it can lead to worse things than if you had a lot of bad and a little bit of good. In my case for instance, I feel that my schooling is being affected due to a lack of balance of the good and bad. I am having too much bad happen in my life and not enough good. So every time I have an opportunity for good I take it even if I know it’s not the right time. This has been affecting my schoolwork because the only time I can look for good is when I’m doing homework because that’s the only time I know I’ll get it. So instead of concentrating on the task at hand, I’m looking for the good at the wrong time due to losing all my good and now facing “the withdraw of good,” or just retaliating because I’m not used to this much bad.

Marginal corporate messages

Marginal corporate messages are those that we see come up but not as frequently as the dominant ones. These messages are things such as woman can be bad ass just like men, “fight the power,” don’t be part of “the system,” just go crazy with life, and many more. In my opinion so of these marginal messages can have more meaning then the dominant messages that people are so accustomed to. The reason being is that these dominant messages have to do with a system. Systems in which we all are suppose to follow as human beings. These things consist of getting money, having a good job, being a good person, going to school, doing work, and not enjoying life for the most part because we are always doing something that’s part of the system. But it’s some of these marginal messages that can make life so worthwhile. It is like being able to fight the power of society is so much fun because it is something we are not required/ expected to do. Marginal messages are the fuel that keep us going because it is that little voice inside us that just says “Fuck the system, I’m doing what I want to do.”These marginal messages are expressed in many places, but I’d say the most are in movies. In the move Pump up the Volume, HHH (Happy Hairy Hard On) is an anonymous radio host that goes on air at 10pm every night. And on this show he shares his true feelings and views about life with his listeners. But in his “real life,” he feels trapped in this suburbia in Arizona. He goes to school, writes papers, does his work, and reads like every other person in a suburbia that goes to school. He is like that outcast geek that nobody wants to talk to. But at night for his radio show, all his views and feelings about life change. It is like silent by day, let it all out by night. On his show he does things like fake masturbating, playing fight the power music, smoking cigarettes, chewing gum, and wearing “bad ass,” clothing. So what he does is show his true self on his show. Telling us to go crazy in life and forget the system/ don’t let the system stop from being who you are. Or how the world is seriously corrupted by the people that run it and how the system take away from who we really are. Because “the system,” says we practically go to school, go to work, be cool, have money, and get various material products. But HHH is saying that this isn’t necessary, that it is still meaningful to do what makes you feel good inside. Even if it isn’t what society wants it to be. But it only matters if it satisfies the individual. In the movie there is quote from a song that states “Everybody knows that the war is over and the good guys lost.” This means that those who are those “good,” people who fought the power lost and those who follow the system won. But even though these people might’ve lost compared to others, as long as they make their life meaningful to them that’s all that matters. That even though they might not live in a huge house, have money, family, and material items doesn’t mean life is meaningless to that person. As long as you can feel proud of what you have done with your life, be able to say “I did what you wanted and it was worth it,” to go against the system, and maybe I might not be the richest man out there. But I think that where I am in life is ok in my eyes. So marginal messages are what can fuel a person’s life to be happier.Another movie that shows us these marginal messages is Fight Club. This movie is about a group of people who start a secret place where people fight. And it isn’t the fights; it’s about the dialogue that the characters use. The characters are all trying to send the viewer a message that aren’t represented by a material object such as money, cars, houses, etc. Not even the kind of job you have. You are represented by your true self and how you act. Just because you have a bad job doesn’t mean you are a bad or stupid person. It just means you didn’t make it up in society. But this movie says that you shouldn’t care about that stuff and that you are who you are and no one can change that. “You aren’t your khakis, you aren’t the contents of your wallet, you aren’t your job.” This quote means that you aren’t anything else but yourself. That you should let the world be and be who you are, not who everyone else is. It’s like the way we look at people. We can see someone who is very rich and just think he’s a good guy because he has a lot of money and a big house, and then turn out to be another asshole. But then again someone who is poor can be a much better quality of person but just not have a lot of money or a big house. So just because you are rich doesn’t mean you are a good person. This supports how you must not judge yourself by the kind of job or amount of money you have. As long as you can feel proud of who you really are that’s all that matters.

Dominant folk messages

Folk messages are also impacts on how to live a good and meaningful life. Folk messages are the ones that pop up occasionally but not everywhere. These are messages we get from our family, books, or even our teachers who try to tell us things that other dominant corporate places such as movies won’t tell us. These folk messages consist of topics such as love, attitude, insight, family, religion, work, death, and even aging. These are those smaller messages that aren’t looked at as much as the dominant ones but are just important to leading a good and meaningful life. I feel that these are actually more important/ significant then the dominant ones because these are the ones that are closer to the heart and soul of a person. A way this is true is because something like an iPod or a Ferrari won’t make a person happier long term, but something as close as a friend can make you happy for a lifetime.
A folk message that has a major part of how to live a good and meaningful life is friendship. The reason that this folk message stands out to me is because it is something that contradicts dominant corporate messages. The reason it does is because these dominant messages tell us that a meaningful life is having a lot of material objects, money, big house, etc. But this folk message of having friends contradicts that because there can be someone in middle class with a lot of friends and less money, can be happier than a man in upper class with a lot of money with no friends. A person with no friends even with a lot of money is actually less happy then they got no one to share any good times or joy with. It would be like watching your favorite team win a championship and then want to give someone a celebratory hug or high five but there would be no one there. And it is times like these that make even a rich person very lonely and unhappy. Because money can’t buy true friendship, people who are your friends because you are rich aren’t true friends. They won’t stick with them through the good and bad. Real friends stay with you regardless of the circumstances. This is a way that folk messages can be more important than dominant corporate messages.
Another folk message that contradicts the dominant corporate messages is the message of religion. The way that this does is because this can be used by any person in the world, upper, middle, and lower class people. But in my opinion I feel that those in the lower to middle classes have more connection to their religion then those in the upper classes. The reason I think this is because these people with less money are more connected because they actually have to hope and pray for dreams to come true and become reality. For a poorer person to prey to get an Xbox 360 it seems more spiritual and connecting because they got to work one hundred times harder because they can’t get things to come as automatic like rich person could. A rich person can make an Xbox 360 appear in two seconds if they want to. But it’s not even just material objects to prey/ hope for. It’s even things like happiness. Rich people always think they can buy happiness. Buying cars, houses, big screen TV’s, and various high priced objects. But the middle—lower class people prey for it and hope it comes true. They can’t just buy it and instantly make a material object appear like a rich person could. So therefore, the folk message Religion contradicts dominant messages because believing in a religion is the ability to believe in a higher power to help life change for the better. People in middle – lower class use this ability more and a lot stronger because they have to believe and prey for better things to come. Rich and upper class people don’t really have to because they usually take the attitude, “ill donate a little of my money and I’ll be doing a good thing.” But a poorer people would consider a good thing being like “I was able to make sure my kid had a happy birthday.” The way these things differ is because rich people consider giving money to be a real special deed. But it isn’t. A special deed is something like making sure a kid has a happy birthday. And by doing this, you are crea
ting opportunities and happiness by not using the dominant message of money, but the folk message of religion.
When I asked other people on the street, I was getting mixed answers. And the variety of these answers had to do with the person’s situation in life. I remember I asked this guy who was sitting on a bench on 22nd street and he told me that his life wasn’t really meaningful. He said that on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most meaningful that his life was a 4/10. And the reason he gave me was that he was having problems and he didn’t know where his life was going. In my opinion he wasn’t rich and he was struggling to find his way in the world. On the contrary the dean of SOF Mr. Marks actually feels very confident about the meaning of his life. He felt that on the scale of 1-10 that his life was an 8. This tells me that because of his occupation he feels that his life really means something. That it is meaningful to make sure that kids are safe, a school system is running smoothly, and that he has the good feeling that he is sending America’s youth into college. So different people have different views on their importance in life based on their current situation in life. Another place where Folk messages are used on holidays. For my “Christmas,” celebration, I was one of those people who stayed with family, ate good tasting food and chilled. On Christmas day all I did was watch all the basketball games and eat. Some friends of my dad came over to add to the occasion. It was fun considering what we were doing. This year it my first time looking at Christmas and somewhat observing it. Due to my dad’s friend, she persuaded us to have this little Christmas dinner in our apartment. The food was good, but the presents or I should say, present was better. For Christmas all I got from my dad was 50 bucks. And it wasn’t even supposed to give it to me for a Christmas present. He gave it to me or as a, “here is 50 bucks, now get the hell away from me,” sort of thing. So all I did was take it and took as “merry Christmas.” So in other words, my family didn’t have a traditional Christmas. We had the necessities such as a fake tree, food, people over, and somewhat presents. But it wasn’t even close to what other families do. Going all out to get the best looking tree, decorating the entire house with stockings and ordainments, getting that Christmas mood, presents under the tree, and having a bunch of people. Mine was very small and more chilled out. My family kind of followed the Christmas way but in a very cheap way. This in its ways goes for and against the so called “American way of life,” that pertains to Christmas. The reason is that even if you don’t have a whole “parade,” for Christmas doesn’t mean you are bad but just mean you just don’t have enough money to afford it. But on the other hand people might think you are low in society because you can’t afford a banquet Christmas.To add on to the idea that I ended on in the previous paragraph, I think that this connects to the dominant and marginal messages of corporate culture. I would believe that the dominant messages are to have a huge festival with food, decorations, people, presents, huge tree, and just have it be a whole big expensive thing. This connects back to the American message of being super rich and having money to get all these material possessions. Because if you look at Christmas through a different lens, all it is is spending money for other people and yourself. So in other words having lots of money, buy gifts for you and others that you are close to, and this results in more material possessions. A marginal message is for those people who are in middle—lower class. The people in these classes don’t have a lot of money to spend so they follow the message that “even though we aren’t rich, we can still make due with what we have.” Which mean that you don’t have to be rich to celebrate Christmas. That even though you will consume it won’t be on such a large scale, it will be like the small things such as family and love means more than an Xbox 360. This is a marginal message because it is something you hear people say in most places but not all which is you should celebrate Christmas but if you don’t have a lot of money to spend it isn’t a bad thing.