"I don’t have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like."

   Recently, there was a feud between Lady Gaga and Adele about the weight of successful singers in America. They went on debating on the ideology of whether or not it's about just the music or if you have the body/looks to deserve to be on top. This useless argument just created an extreme tension between the two singers. Causing people to believe that their favorite singer is right about being overweight or not.
   When you think about it, there's always that idea when you were younger of trying to be the perfect little girl and wanting everybody to notice how cute you are. This idea that was put into your brain from the countless comments that you received from your parents' friends complimenting their new child. When you didn't get a compliment, it would feel as though you did something wrong. The only feeling of accomplishment you got were from compliments and showing off what you made in class that day to your parents. Obviously, just being cute was less work for you, and being a child you'd choose the easier way. So you decide to care more about your looks rather than work that requires actual thinking. So then this idea stays with you all the way up until now (unless you're one of the lucky few that realize it's more than just beauty) and you're not using what you're born with the ideal way.
   In Adele's interview for Rolling Stones Magazine, she openly talks about how shes happy with her weight and how she loves fine food and hates the gym. Also stated, "I love seeing Katy Perry's boobs and bum. Love it. But that's not what my music is about. I don't make music for eyes. I make music for ears." (Adele, 2011). Clearly, she feels no pressure at all of standing out from all of the skinny and fit singers as compared to her. She has shown people that beauty isn't everything and that everybody should be happy with how they look.

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Creative Project

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

My work of culture is the movie The Rise of the Planet of the Apes which is relevant because it came out recently and was popular. This movie shows that humans find it much easier to simply destroy things then understand them and that modern businesses main goal is to make money above everything else. It doesn't support the ideology or break it the movie simply shows it.

 

The movie The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a prequel to the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes shows how the apes got smarter and what caused the humans to die out and apes to take over.

 

The movie shows that Humans find it much easier to simply destroy things then understand them. An example of this is when the Humans found out about the apes they tried to kill them instead of trying to understand what was going on. Another thing the movie shows is that now days everyones main goal is to make money above everything else. An example of this in the movie is when the company only is interested in finding a cure for alzheimer's was for making a profit if there wasn't a profit to be made then they didn't care even if it could save other human lives.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/

Be Yourself and Be Proud.

Although Cher is from the past, her influences are still seen today. She is still making music and appearing in movies. When you talk about Cher, you can bring up many different ideologies since Cher is associated with many controversial ideas. Whether it’s her transsexual son, the fact that she is a gay icon, or her relationships with large age differences. I believe that she should be looked at as an icon for her contributions against the stereotype of female singers of her time.

Cher’s career started as a singer with her husband, Sonny Bono, in 1965. They produced many songs, for example their most famous hit “I Got You, Babe”, and had a television show called “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.” After Sonny and Cher had split up, Cher continued to make music. She became very famous as an independent singer, and an actress. In 2005, she had a farewell concert, but recently she has reappeared in movies and continues her music. She was in the movie Burlesque in 2010, which featured her newest song “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me.”

When Cher became famous all of the female icons had short blonde hair and a pretty face, for example Dusty Springfield was a very popular female singer at that time. Cher had long black hair, broad Cherokee Indian cheekbones, and a sultry deep voice. She also had ridiculous and revealing costumes, which were unheard of at this time. She helped shape today’s image for female singers, and fashion in general. If Cher hadn’t worn those crazy outfits, you would not see Lady Gaga in the things she wears today. Cher helped look beyond gender roles, and allowed women to be seen as the independent, beautiful people that they are, no matter how they are viewed by others.

Be Yourself

With the new trends and styles out in the U.S., some people have lowered their self esteem. They don't think they look nice because they don't have what others have. My pop. culture focuses on being yourself. Bruno Mars's "Just The Way You Are" song is a builder for this ideology. The song was released on July 19, 2010. In the song, Bruno Mars sings about a girl who doesn't like who she is. I feel that the message being sent from the song is to be yourself.

Bruno Mars starts off by singing about how amazing the girl is. He says that "her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining, her hair falls perfectly without her trying" However, the girl doesn't believe that she is all that. She doesn't know if she looks good or not. She's basically lost. He goes to say that he wouldn't change a single thing about her. To him the girl is amazing. In the end of the song, Bruno Mars closes it off with "Cause girl you're amazing, JUST THE WAY YOU ARE."


People are different. They have different personalities and most definately different styles. Like the girl in the song, a lot of teenagers try to impress others when they should be trying to impress themselves. "But everytime she asks me do I look okay..." is a line from the the song that shows that she is trying to impress another person. People should just be themselves. Some people who follow trends have low self esteem because they aren't happy with what they are following. Instead, they should be just the way they are.

The Pursuit of Happyness

The pop culture topic I am discussing about is the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness" was released in 2006. It is pretty old but this movie is still related to society today. Society believes that poor people are all uneducated and that they are incapable of being successful in life. However, "The Pursuit of Happyness" contradicts this stereotype.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" is about the struggle a man, Chris Gardner goes through financially in order to take care of his son and himself. He has to face through many obstacles such as coping with his taking care of his son as a single parent, competing in a rigorous internship, and even stuggling to find a place to sleep at in the end of the day. Despite all his hardships Chris is determined to reach his goal of becoming a stock broker.

There are many examples of how this movie shows stereotypes of being poor. One example is when Chris goes to an internship interview, the interviewers hesitate to give him the job because of how poorly he was dressed. They were automatically uncertain of giving Chris the job without even realizing how intelligent he was. Another example is that Chris had to lie about his social status often because no one would take him seriously if they knew he was homeless. This movie challenges society's view because despite living in poverty, Chris recieved the one job of stock broker out of twenty people and eventually upgraded to become a multi millionaire.

TAYLOR GANG OR DIE

"On My Level" is a song by Wiz Khalifa.The song starts out with him talking about a typical night he has when he is out at the club. Like many kids in thier 20s going clubing is very much part of todays pop culture as is smoking. Many teenagers live by this role of smoking illegal drugs not realy carring about school and there future.

Like I said this particular song influences many people not just teenagers to do some of the task like in the music video. It has impacted many kids. This type of pop culture is not the good kind and produces many stereotypes, as in (no offense) how "blacks" are typically criminals. Hip Hop and Rap as most parents say would be the worst of pop culture and todays music. In this song the line "On My Level" refers to the state and how you feel when you are messed up.

Most of Wiz khalifa's songs are about smoking substances and other bad influences. A good example is "On My Level" is getting played is getting played while people are under the influence.

The Modern Family

"Modern Family" is important to talk about now because you can see that the show goes against the ideal family. This show has three different families all tied into one family. The three families are two gay guys with an adopted daughter, a multicultural family with a stepfather, and a traditional family. Even the traditional family is going against the ideal family. This show is a critic to dominant ideology.

"Modern Family" is based everyday lives that the writers have and we can all relate to in some way. The show is very funny and surprises you every time. One of the families is gay; they are both guys who have adopted an Asian girl. Another family is an old guy who marries a younger Hispanic female who has a son. The last family is more of the traditional family than all of them but still is not the ideal family.

They say the ideal family is a mom, dad, daughter, and a son. Also that the mom and dad are close in age and have good healthy kids but we all know that does not really work in the real world. Some examples are that show this show is going against dominant ideology of family values by the diversity and who they marry like there is a gay and a multicultural family.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442437/

Life aboard the Axiom

How does the movie Wall-E represent some Dominant Ideologies in popular culture today? Wall-E is about a little robot in the future who cleans up trash. He is important because there is so much trash in the future from all of the humans. When this movie came out in 2008, it made a big impact on society because of it's address to world pollution. It is important to discuss this movie now because it enforces the Dominant Ideology of a greener ecosystem. It shows that the way people are living now is unhealthy for the environment, and it opens our eyes to the possibility of using up our own resources and destroying the natural state of this planet.

Wall-E is about the journey of a little robot, Wall-E, who falls in robot love with a robot lady friend, Eve. When Wall-E follows Eve back to her spaceship (where the humans live) he sees that the humans are really fat and lazy and have lost all of their Dominant Ideologies. His mission now is to bring them back to earth and restore natural order on their home planet. Here is a powerful scene from Wall-E that shows what life is like on the spaceship.

So why is this important? This movie is important because of the Ideologies it represents. It shows the importance of respect for our environment, especially in thebeginning when they show all of the trash on Earth. The movie also glorifies respect for the planet and for life, by showing how artificial life can eliminate any respectful way of living. On the spaceship, the humans don't have any control over their life; they don't communicate with each other except through machines, and they don't even exercise. Some people thing that this is a very important issue to address because they see these trends becoming more and more common in today's society. With increasing morbid obesity, and the rise of social networking, our lifestyles are becoming more and more like those of the people on the spaceship. We need someone like Wall-E to bring us back to reality by reminding us of the importance of living.

Are you Disturbed yet?

The band disturbed consists of 4 members, each with a different religion. Their band is represented in their band symbol.

The band members are named Dan Donegan, Steve “Fuzz” Kmak, Mike Wengren, and lead singer David Draiman. They have sold over 13 million albums worldwide. One of their first songs, Down with the Sickness, is about the anger and hate of a child who is abused by his/her parents physically. It is meant to start people discussing the controversial idea of physically punishing kids and the feelings of them afterwards. Most of Disturbed’s songs start discussions controversial topics about anger and hatred. For example, their new song, Asylum, discusses the treatment of criminally insane and mentally insane people in Mental Hospitals. This was in response to the many death’s occurring in Mental Hospital’s during 2010 and 2011.

One of Disturbed’s older songs, Hell, describes the anger and hatred that can come from being betrayed. It talks about the sensational feeling for revenge, where your entire mind is stripped of all reason, replaced by the irresistible urge to destroy all that you’ve done and all that you’ve become, in order to fulfill your revenge. It describes how the betrayer should fear his actions, and fear the vengeance that is sure to come from the one he betrayed.

Disturbed’s music using disturbing lyrics to ask you if you really should support what is going on in the world. Should you hit your children when they could feel anger and vengeance to you afterwards? Should you allow criminally and mentally insane people to be treated so that they feel crazier than they did before? Although most of the music videos have incredibly disturbing and exaggerated images, the song causes you to question yourself and your beliefs. In Asylum, there are many images of people coming to get you, taking you away to a place of Fear and Misery, where all you want to do is run and hide. One such scene shows a man in a straight jacket running from the hospital people, with them close behind. They trap him on the roof, smirking devilishly, loving the pain the cause on others.
Link:(Disturbed: Down with the Sickness Lyrics)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wA5NmQESx8(Warning: This song contains explicit material in the form of words...)

Michael Cole
Period 3
9/23/11

"Mommy, Can I look like the girls on Jerry Springer?"

As a young girl, you grow up playing with Barbies, Bratz and other assorted dolls. Have you ever taken the time to think that maybe those childhood toys have had some affect on you today? It is a proven study that girls between the ages of 3-7 are being influenced by the toys (in this case, dolls) that they play with. Dolls today now demonstrate a face full of make up, clothes that are extremely revealing, and bodies which have been shrinking with each year of manufacturing. It is a shame that now when we go out to a public place, seeing a five year old dressed like an eighteen year old doesn't come as a short surprise. Girls everyday are asking "Mommy, can I wear make up? Can I go on a diet?" This simple concept has now affected girls into thinking that they have to be beautiful and that only looks matter. The message this sad subject conveys shows that within each generation, girls seem to be wanting to act and look older, causing little girls wanting to be thin models or even pregnant. This shows that America is simply a country based on looks and that if you're a woman who is average looking, that it's simply not enough anymore.

A perfect example of this tragic ideology is the show “Toddlers and Tiaras”. The show first premiered on 'TLC' in late 2009. The show follows the controversial world of child beauty pageants looking closely at the contestants and their families as the children prepare for their pageant shows. Within the first 4 months since the shows first premiere, pageant contests of the ages 8 and under has increased tremendously. These young girls are not forced but choose to wear revealing clothing, make up, full fake tans, high heels, and personally some look like girls you'd see in Las Vegas. The parents of these young girls do not place expectations for their daughters, but actually approve of the expectations their daughter sets for themselves. It's a heart breaking to see that the only way these girls think they can win is to look like their legal. It used to be that the image of a princess was a girl with a kind and loving heart, now (thanks to Barbie's and such) the image of princesses have been portrayed as a tall, slender woman with great clothing and dark make up.

Are you starting to see the comparisons yet? In an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras, 5 year old Payton from New York said, “My goal is to look like a princess on the stage. I want the judges to say I looked like Barbie after I walk off the stage.” When producers asked her what were the qualities of a princess, she changed the subject to talk about barbies stating, “Barbie doesn't have to be smart or funny, she just has to be pretty and people like her.” What is actually surprising is that there is way to prevent young girls from thinking like this, while allowing them to play with the toys they desire. When you're little or when you see others younger than you, you always tend to compliment their appearance (usually saying how cute they are or how their outfit is pretty). This sneaks into a child’s mind subconsciously and as they grow older, they almost crave that same attention. They want to look pretty and impress others. This is why adults should try complimenting the child’s personality! It's just as easy to compliment a child who's caring and nice than it is to compliment a cute one. Overall, the dominant ideology that girls have to start being “pretty” at such a young age is just wrong.