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Well my last post hit a soft spot with a lot of people! Which is awesome since I feared I was alone in the anti-toxic world. Something I’ve learned in the past few days between the last post I wrote and class last night is that music is extremely important to people.

I actually really enjoyed the “round robin” parts of last night’s class. It was interesting, to me at least, to hear people explain their song and why out of all the songs in the world they chose that particular one to play for the class. Majority of the songs I had never heard before and I even wrote down a few of the names and came home and downloaded them! Another added bonus of going to class! haha. One thing in particular interested me about the song choices. In the second “round” both girls chose a country song. Now for the record, to say I dislike country music is a great understatement. I really honestly can’t stand to listen to it at all, except for the handful of songs I have carefully selected and chosen to, at best, tolerate. I never thought of country music as a respectable taste in music. I know that sounds harsh, especially those who live for country, but I really always thought of if as… shit. Last night though, was the first time I actually heard someone speak passionately about country music and gave me a reason to accept it as a valid form of music.

What is it that bugs me about country so much? Well I hate (yes, HATE) that twangy instrument that makes whiney noises in the background of pretty much every country song. I have no idea what makes that sound, but i really just hate hate hate it. It annoys me greatly as you can tell. I’ve also never heard a country song that had lyrics that really spoke to me. I have listened to a lot of country music, so I feel like I can make this judgement. I was raised in a house that listened to a fair amount of country music and all of my friends, minus a handful, listen to country music all the time. So I’ve been exposed to a lot of it. Plus I live in Alberta, so let’s be honest, I hear it everywhere! A lot of the lyrics are depressing. Or about a life I’ve never been exposed to. I grew up in Calgary but the first time I went on a farm, I was 16. And I stayed in the house for the entire time. Not to say that Calgary is really a bustling metropolis completely shielded from the “country life”, but I really wasn’t exposed to tractors, open fields, horses… etc. I know it sounds like I’m pigeon-holing country music and I don’t mean to. It’s hard to include ALL country song content, so I’m making a few generalizations. No angry comments please! haha.

Anyways. I just felt the need to rant about country. I respect you if that’s your favourite music. I have nothing against those who love it. It just happens that I would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard for hours than listen to a Toby Keith record.

Aaaah, Noam Chomsky. Once I got over the incredible 80s-ness of the film, I found Chomsky’s thoughts in ‘Manufacturing Consent’ quite compelling – particularly his thoughts on propaganda. In the film Chomsky discusses how historically society was controlled in many aspects of people’s daily lives, but when personal freedom became more prevalent governments turned to propaganda to coerce people into thinking a certain way. He goes on to compare today’s media as propaganda and I couldn’t agree more. If you’ve read my blog at all you can probably tell that I struggle with media messages. I watch MTV and other equally useless crap and until I started taking this class, not once did I question the messages they were portraying. I think if Chomsky were to watch MTV today he would collapse. Actually, if he were to watch anything on television he would speechless. I find it incredible that so many years ago he was able to make so many intuitive and intelligent inferences about the media. I believe that we are currently part of the most media-saturated generation that has ever lived, so I find it comforting that people like Chomsky thought the way he did, but I’m also frustrated that more people don’t know about it. Media consciousness is so important and I think it’s far too often overlooked as a teaching tool.

**It has come to my attention that Chomsky is not actually dead… For some reason I wrote down in my notes from last class that Paul said he was. And so my post probably sounds pretty weird. My bad!!***

So after Tuesday night’s class I now find myself analyzing everything I watch on TV, every website I visit, every ad I pay attention to, which music I’m listening to, etc and trying to analyze why exactly I’m taking part in that particular activity. It’s getting a little ridiculous to be honest with you. But I guess that’s what this class is all about. Being media literate and understanding that alot of the shit out there is just that – shit. I guess what’s really getting to me right now is that why is it considered shit? I admit I watch My Super Sweet 16 and in fact had just watched it right before class. I get just as angry as Paul said he does when he watches it, but I still watch it whenever it’s on. It repulses me, disgusts me, angers me, but yet I am thoroughly entertained by these whiney, spoiled 16 year olds. Why do I find this entertaining? Because it is unlike anything in my life. My life in no way, shape, or form resembles these children’s lives. And when it comes down to it I get the same satisfaction out of watching My Super Sweet 16 that I do from watching Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel or Intervention on A&E. I’m getting to peek into a world that is completely foreign to me. And I guess to me, that’s what entertainment is. I don’t want to sit around and watch a show about people going grocery shopping, filling their car with gas, reading textbooks for 3 hours, and staring into the fridge trying to find something for dinner. Cuz that’s my everyday life. The whold idea of media to me, at least as far as tv and movies go, is largely to entertain. Sure sometimes it’s used for educational purposes and I think that’s great. But mostly it’s car chases, fist fights, and crazy drunk sluts.

One comment Paul made really got me thinking afterwards. He used the opera and the ballet and accepted “cultured” forms of entertainment as “superior” alternatives to sitting on the couch and watching TV. But why are they superior? What if I happen to hate opera? Why should me sitting at home watching Dirty Dancing on VHS for the 248395489 time be considered less productive? Frankly I would get far more enjoyment out of watching Patrick Swasy prance around in a tight little tshirt than watch weird Italians belt out songs in languages I don’t understand. I don’t think that makes me any less of a civilized person. I think it all relates back to class relations. Not everyone can afford ballet tickets, but majority of people have cable or peasantvision. TV is much more accessible.

One of the habits I’m really trying to kick right now is my reading of celebrity gossip blogs (ie Perez Hilton). I hate reading it everyday. But yet I love it. I hate that he thinks everyone is gay and draws explicit pictures on photos of people and adores Paris Hilton. But I read his blog about 3 times a day. It’s ridiculous. For a reason I haven’t figured out yet, I enjoy being able to join in conversations about Nicole Richie’s Mexican vacation with Joel Madden or how many times last week Britney Spears didn’t wear underwear. It’s not useful knowledge. It serves me no greater purpose or reward, other than conversations that last less than 2 minutes because there isn’t much to say.

“So Justin dumped Cameron”
“Yea, it’s crazy.”
“Celebs never last in relationships.”
“I know. It’s crazy. I wonder what happened”
“Maybe he got bored.”
“Apparently he’s dating Jessica Biel and/or Scarlett Johannsen now.”
“Weird. That didn’t take long.”
“I know. What a man-whore.”
“So, wanna go rent a movie?”

I miss the days when there were only a few gossip rags and People magazine and that was all we had to report on the lives of celebrities. It wasn’t to long ago when that’s all there was. Less than 7 years, really. Anyways, this post was pretty much a big circle of speculation. As always! Here’s some culture for you all to enjoy:

I’m a little late on my post this week, but it’s been a bit helter skelter for me lately. This semester is for whatever reason, starting out hardcore. I wish I could say it dies down eventually… but it doesn’t. At least I only have 1 final though! woo!

The topic I really would like to address from class is one of the ’20 reasons to study mass communication’. In particular, the reason that it affects the way we communicate. As I mentioned in my first post my favourite movie is Clueless. I know that sounds lame, but besides it being fantastically entertaining in a completely mindless sort of way, it really defined a generation. The term “whatever” really didn’t start until that movie – at least not on a total North American level. I find it really interesting how much that movie affected the way in which we talk to each other (clearly, I’m a sociology major and have been since birth). I remember watching Clueless when i was 11 or 12 and thinking “ohmigod, who the hell has a cellphone in high school?!?!”. And now everyone does. I got off topic again. Never fails.

I think media is also so important to study is because you really can’t get away from it. It’s embedded in every aspect of everything we do everyday of every year. You can watch tv on your cellphones and have GPS systems in your cars instead a plain old paper map. You can’t go anywhere in a westernized nation without encountering some form of technology and media outlet. It’s everywhere!