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.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Marginal 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, its 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. Its like the way we look at people. We can see someone who is very rich and just think hes a good guy cause 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.
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, its 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. Its like the way we look at people. We can see someone who is very rich and just think hes a good guy cause 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.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Walmart Article
According to this Wal-Mart article it tells me something American people and our way of life. In the article it states how 2,000 people gathered outside Wal-Mart before the sun even came up due to the crazy good shopping sales. So what happened was that when employees opened the doors to the stores, it was a stampede of people just like a bull rush. People rushed through the doors just knocking down each other and employees just getting crushed and stepped on by the excited shoppers. But for one employee, Jdimytai Damour the stampede was too much for him and just got taken to the floor by the shoppers and died in front of employee Jimmy Overby. After he was found cops tried to perform CPR on him but that didn’t help so he was then pronounced dead.
This shows me that (please excuse my language) but that the American people just don’t give a fuck about anything/ anyone. The reason I think so is because thousands of people took an innocent employee’s life just trying to receive some sort of saving on things that can range from electronics to kitchen appliances to even furniture. People cared more about themselves and getting a big discount/ sale then actually caring about the people who worked there. According to the article, even though one man died there were other people who were knocked to the ground and practically fighting off their backs. Before the doors were suppose to open at 5 am people were already trying to knock down the doors while chanting “push the doors in.” Then the workers took noticed and tried to barricade it but that idea didn’t work out too well. The barricade of workers didn’t work and that’s how the worker died because he got squished.
The way this connects back to Americans not giving a fuck is that if they did, they would think about more than just consumer products. Someone who really cared would not have rampaged the store and thought of other people besides themselves. But there were so many people stampeding that if you were actually trying to be one of them nice people, you would get crushed. And then what pisses me off the most is that they don’t care about the employees when they are stampeding into the store, but once they found out that an employee was dead it was then a big deal. This shows that the American people sell their opinion. The way it tells me that is that they only start to care after something goes wrong. It’s like if you are one of the stampeding people then you just shouldn’t care because you are already doing the crime. It’s not right to do the crime and show you don’t care and then when something goes wrong, then care. That’s like robbing a bank and then turning yourself into the cops and apologizing. It doesn’t matter because you already did the crime and you aren’t showing what you truly believe.
This shows me that (please excuse my language) but that the American people just don’t give a fuck about anything/ anyone. The reason I think so is because thousands of people took an innocent employee’s life just trying to receive some sort of saving on things that can range from electronics to kitchen appliances to even furniture. People cared more about themselves and getting a big discount/ sale then actually caring about the people who worked there. According to the article, even though one man died there were other people who were knocked to the ground and practically fighting off their backs. Before the doors were suppose to open at 5 am people were already trying to knock down the doors while chanting “push the doors in.” Then the workers took noticed and tried to barricade it but that idea didn’t work out too well. The barricade of workers didn’t work and that’s how the worker died because he got squished.
The way this connects back to Americans not giving a fuck is that if they did, they would think about more than just consumer products. Someone who really cared would not have rampaged the store and thought of other people besides themselves. But there were so many people stampeding that if you were actually trying to be one of them nice people, you would get crushed. And then what pisses me off the most is that they don’t care about the employees when they are stampeding into the store, but once they found out that an employee was dead it was then a big deal. This shows that the American people sell their opinion. The way it tells me that is that they only start to care after something goes wrong. It’s like if you are one of the stampeding people then you just shouldn’t care because you are already doing the crime. It’s not right to do the crime and show you don’t care and then when something goes wrong, then care. That’s like robbing a bank and then turning yourself into the cops and apologizing. It doesn’t matter because you already did the crime and you aren’t showing what you truly believe.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thanksgiving/ Black Friday relating to a meaningful life
I believe that thanksgiving and black Friday have to do with a good and meaningful life. The reason I think so is because each day has its own meaning in which some people wish to follow. So like thanksgiving is supposed to be a day with food, family, and praise good things. But black Friday/ the day after thanksgiving is more of a chilled out day of cleaning the house after company and etc. But for some it is the one day of the year where you can actually be excited to run out to stores to buy stuff. The reason being is that at stores have the hugest discounts. Most things are on sale for as much as 30-50% and things like are usually around $100.00 can be around $20 or $30. I was one of those people who would’ve felt it being more meaningful if I was able to go shop on black Friday because I really had a chance to buy so much stuff for so much cheaper than if I had to go buy it on a normal day for full price. And me personally, anything other then what I did on black Friday was more meaningful then what I actually did. All I did was stay home, study, and clean up the kitchen from cooking. But in my opinion, I think that black Friday/ buy nothing day is way more meaningful then thanksgiving. Even though it is meaningful to be with family and give thanks to good things, I think the real meaningful things is when we do things like “stick it to the man,” like we do on black Friday. On any normal day the “man’” or the big boss of corporations makes it so that items are really expensive and hard to buy. But on black Friday, that’s like the one day to “stick it to the man,” by us being allowed to practically buy anything we want at extremely low prices. I think the opposite of what we are expected is more meaningful because anything expected is treated like whatever, but those that aren’t expected are things that last forever.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgivng Part 2/ message on how to live a good and meaningful life
On thanksgiving I feel that the holiday shows us some marginal messages on how to live a good and meaningful life. The reason I think so because this holiday where you don’t need to be blingin’, having Ferrari’s, money, and ladies. This is a day where you are supposed to appreciate the small things in life that make you happy. It is a day where you can disregard the “flatter abs,” message that you have to eat 100% healthy and be completely fit. It is one of those days where if you eat like a fat ass and no one will care because there is so much food to be eaten. This is one of those marginal messages because it is not everywhere you hear someone tell you to eat as much fatty and unhealthy food you can because thanksgiving is one of those exceptions where it’s like who cares? It’s like if I want to eat a whole turkey, I will eat a whole turkey and forget my health. So in this sense this is a way on how a marginal message affects our view on a good and meaningful life.
Thanksgivng Part 1
During my thanksgiving I thought that things where pretty normal along the terms of being separate from other thanksgivings. During my thanksgiving I cooked, chilled, and watched the crappiest day of thanksgiving football in my lifetime. This was all fun because I was able to do things that feel special on that one day of the year. On normal days food is just food, but on thanksgiving we sit around and appreciate the meal. Saying to ourselves that during a year with all the crap and aggravation we go through, that we can be with people we love and appreciate a “feast,” and each other. Throughout the day I was able to talk to people I don’t usually see, eat great food I cooked, and watched football. Besides the fact that the games sucked, didn’t subtract the fact that it was a special family day.
But all together I don’t think that families isolate each other’s point of thanksgiving unless they are just rebellious and just take everything into the negative. Even though back in the day when the Indians and the pilgrims started the thanksgiving tradition and then the pilgrims killed the Indians, some might against thanksgiving because you are celebrating how the pilgrims killed the Indians after helping them. But I believe that most people in the world actually look at thanksgiving as a day to forget all the bad and actually focus on the good. So in historical terms is like, so what if the pilgrims killed the Indians, let’s celebrate the thanks they gave to each other before all the hatred and murder. It like, lets bond and remember/ appreciate the good because there is too much bad in the world to celebrate it. Thanksgiving is suppose to be that day where you forget all your problems and have a good time with family. A day to forget all sins and problems but to feel good with ones you love.
In my opinion, the day after thanksgiving is just like any other day. The reason I think so because it is a day where some people go back to work and others stay home and chill. So for most it is just like any other crappy day. For me, all I did was sleep till 2:30 in the afternoon, watch TV, write this blog, and go bowling. Also the day after depending on the person’s situation, you don’t have to spend the day after with family so that’s another way how it is just like any other day. It is when stuff for the most part goes back to normal and for others it’s like “thank you thanksgiving for giving me Thursday and Friday off from work/ school.” So that’s why I feel that the day after isn’t really that significant cause all it is, is chilling and cleaning up from the meal.
But all together I don’t think that families isolate each other’s point of thanksgiving unless they are just rebellious and just take everything into the negative. Even though back in the day when the Indians and the pilgrims started the thanksgiving tradition and then the pilgrims killed the Indians, some might against thanksgiving because you are celebrating how the pilgrims killed the Indians after helping them. But I believe that most people in the world actually look at thanksgiving as a day to forget all the bad and actually focus on the good. So in historical terms is like, so what if the pilgrims killed the Indians, let’s celebrate the thanks they gave to each other before all the hatred and murder. It like, lets bond and remember/ appreciate the good because there is too much bad in the world to celebrate it. Thanksgiving is suppose to be that day where you forget all your problems and have a good time with family. A day to forget all sins and problems but to feel good with ones you love.
In my opinion, the day after thanksgiving is just like any other day. The reason I think so because it is a day where some people go back to work and others stay home and chill. So for most it is just like any other crappy day. For me, all I did was sleep till 2:30 in the afternoon, watch TV, write this blog, and go bowling. Also the day after depending on the person’s situation, you don’t have to spend the day after with family so that’s another way how it is just like any other day. It is when stuff for the most part goes back to normal and for others it’s like “thank you thanksgiving for giving me Thursday and Friday off from work/ school.” So that’s why I feel that the day after isn’t really that significant cause all it is, is chilling and cleaning up from the meal.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
dominant messages on corporate culture
While doing our research on dominant messages on corporate culture there are some that always come up. They come up because these are things that people from companies and the media wants us to be like. One of these things that we discovered was the way of being fit. Being fit for men and women is a big thing in the world today. The reason it is such a big issue is because everyday people die due to bad health. Also it is a public message on how you present yourself. Usually those who are fit and have things like as the class would say women who have flat abs and men who have big muscles are the ones who stand out more in society. Usually not fat and unhealthy people who are disabled and whatnot.
Another type of corporate message is being athletic. The reason I bring this up is due to what people see on TV when it comes to sports and outdoor activates. Sports are something the people all over look at. The reason is that if you are athletic it usually means you are fit and strong and it raises a person’s sex appeal plus you usually hear good things about these people. When you are watching the news you never hear “The Coach Potato Report,” or the “Lazy Bowl,” which would be like the Super Bowl for people who do nothing. Doing nothing isn’t interesting to people except to the people who do it. Also there are no healthy effects to sitting on a couch and watching TV twenty for hours a day and seven days a week. A person’s body becomes too out of shape, continues the mindset of just doing nothing, fat can clog arteries, massive weight gain, and many more. So being athletic is something big that corporate messages tell us.
These corporate leaders also want us to follow this idea of being “miserable.” Companies such Apple, Sony, Microsoft, and even clothing companies such as Reebok, Under Armor, and Majestic want us to be miserable. The reason we are this way is due to our greed and desire to want things. In our lives today, when companies such as Apple came out with the IPod. Everyone wanted the iPod to listen to music on the go. But when upgrades and newer editions of these things came out, it was our desire to want it and not being able to get it makes us miserable because we can’t get what we want. Then when we finally get it and a newer edition comes out, it is misery all over again. So all corporate media and culture do to us is use our desire to always shoot us down.
Another corporate message is to look fresh, get money, and get ladies. The reason I bring up this issue is because everywhere you look you see celebrities with their high fashion clothing, money, making it sound like mansions are as easy to buy as candy, have bling( jewelry, diamonds, chains), and just act like you are the man. Everywhere you look you see something having to do with this. Either it is Tom Cruise with some movie, Kanye West in a Rap Video, or even those Victoria Secret models wearing their exotic and sexy clothing. All this shows us is how people in high society are. This connects to what I said before about misery because it makes us feel miserable how easy it is for these upper class people can get cars and mansions easily and average people in the world feel like crap because they look at that and say “I’m living in a hole and these guys got Bentleys and mansions, why can’t they throw me some of that money to help my family?”
Another type of corporate message is being athletic. The reason I bring this up is due to what people see on TV when it comes to sports and outdoor activates. Sports are something the people all over look at. The reason is that if you are athletic it usually means you are fit and strong and it raises a person’s sex appeal plus you usually hear good things about these people. When you are watching the news you never hear “The Coach Potato Report,” or the “Lazy Bowl,” which would be like the Super Bowl for people who do nothing. Doing nothing isn’t interesting to people except to the people who do it. Also there are no healthy effects to sitting on a couch and watching TV twenty for hours a day and seven days a week. A person’s body becomes too out of shape, continues the mindset of just doing nothing, fat can clog arteries, massive weight gain, and many more. So being athletic is something big that corporate messages tell us.
These corporate leaders also want us to follow this idea of being “miserable.” Companies such Apple, Sony, Microsoft, and even clothing companies such as Reebok, Under Armor, and Majestic want us to be miserable. The reason we are this way is due to our greed and desire to want things. In our lives today, when companies such as Apple came out with the IPod. Everyone wanted the iPod to listen to music on the go. But when upgrades and newer editions of these things came out, it was our desire to want it and not being able to get it makes us miserable because we can’t get what we want. Then when we finally get it and a newer edition comes out, it is misery all over again. So all corporate media and culture do to us is use our desire to always shoot us down.
Another corporate message is to look fresh, get money, and get ladies. The reason I bring up this issue is because everywhere you look you see celebrities with their high fashion clothing, money, making it sound like mansions are as easy to buy as candy, have bling( jewelry, diamonds, chains), and just act like you are the man. Everywhere you look you see something having to do with this. Either it is Tom Cruise with some movie, Kanye West in a Rap Video, or even those Victoria Secret models wearing their exotic and sexy clothing. All this shows us is how people in high society are. This connects to what I said before about misery because it makes us feel miserable how easy it is for these upper class people can get cars and mansions easily and average people in the world feel like crap because they look at that and say “I’m living in a hole and these guys got Bentleys and mansions, why can’t they throw me some of that money to help my family?”
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