Hollywoodization

Why do we see certain patterns in Hollywood life? The downfall of one star may bring publicity from media coverage, and be thought of as normal social behaviour for the public to engage in. From Lindsey Lohan’s rehab stints, to many failed celebrity marriages, Madonna adopting children, Brad and Angeline donating to charities, Brittany Spears’ clothing and perfume lines, and cheesy reality shows, it is clear that new trends are emerging and creating standards for the average person to live up to.

Why do we find ourselves immersed with this obsession with popular culture? Do you think we shape the media, or is the media shapes us? That can be beginning of understanding media influence in our daily lives and how Hollywood life is now a part of OUR daily lives. Sure, the media can influence our social behaviours by altering our perspective and attitudes on how we see the world and understand what we are exposed to, but the media is a reflection on our own current social trends in modern society as well, making media a double edged sword. I am not trying to convince anyone that Hollywood trends are "bad," I am merely stating that these trends influence the knowledge we pick up, such as drug addiction, fashion trends, international developments, etc. What we expose ourselves too, we become familiar with and begin to gain knowledge. Certain knowledge Hollywood teaches, should not be high on our priority list.

Marshall McLuhan, educator and media scholar in the 1960’s and 70’s wrote, "We shape our tools and our tools shape us"(The Medium is the Message). McLuhan saw media as an extension of self, that is, as technology that extends natural human abilities. Technologies are not simple additions to human existence. These technologies change how humans think, feel and act. The point is, that we believe that what we see may be an extension of ourselves, and cannot figure out what is real or just related to our lives. Clearly Facebook is one of the biggest examples I can explain this idea. Our reality is what we experience with our own eyes with interaction with other humans. Facebook is merely an extension to our sight (seeing pictures) and hearing (when we comment on each others' "walls"). We are not Facebook, but Facebook can become apart of our lives because it helps us to communicate easier. We can't look at these media examples negatively, since Facebook can take away from human to human interactions, but this new media ecology is here to stay and grow and extend to our needs as our society becomes avid adaptors.

Marshall Mcluhan's concept of the medium being the message has evolved our understanding of electroinc media and that the meaning behind all our new media is that the form of a medium creates the message. There is a significant relationship between how the medium influences and how the message is perceived. He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself.

The Hills are Alive!

Which magazine cover do you think sold more copies?

Looking classy as ever trying to showcase their amazing talent...Heidi's lip syncing skills and Adriana's ...I don't even know what she can do. These two magazines came out at the same time by the way...basically competing on which Hills star was hotter.

Why does my generation get so hooked on television shows like MTV’s The Hills and those other cheesy reality shows? This version of reality is clearly scripted and packaged as entertainment. Girls and boys, who watch shows like the Hills, look up to characters like Spencer Pratt, Lauren Conrad, and Heidi Montag for the wrong reasons. Do kids even understand that what they are watching may not be real? Sure these stars live a really cool, appealing life, but when we see this on TV and think its reality, they are creating unreal expectations on what our lives should be like. I rarely watch reality shows on MTV, but when I do, I somehow know the facade and how these shows are just trying to sell an image and advertise to their main audience of impressionable youth.

I just don’t understand how some of my friends are sucked into watching the Hills and spend their time watching what Lauren and Heidi are fighting about or what clubs they are going to or how they are spending their time in the California life. If this show wasn’t scripted, all the characters lives would be boring and similar to our own, and MTV would loose a huge audience. There is so much product placement and music advertising too that subconsciously the people who watch this show have planted images in their mind on what is cool and what they want to buy or want to be look like. Honestly, I really want to rant about how dumb these “celebrities” are, and how they market themselves and conduct their image, but when I thought about it more, maybe they are all smart business professionals who are making money from acting a certain way and playing along with MTV’s idea of entertainment.

What happened to the ideas of female empowerment? I have heard that the new female empowerment is how sexuality is conveyed now a days, and girl groups and music videos are making girls feel powerful. Haha. Really? Why should taking off your clothes and giving guys what they want and being a “tease” or being sexuality active, give young girls a good impression and look up to them. This whole manufactured Hollywood agenda is just creating false hope and dreams for little girls and boys looking up to their favourite stars and wishing they had what they had.

I was really became interested when I always saw celebrities going downhill and destroying their lives when they had everything. This is a sadistic way of looking at the screwed up lives of others, but it really makes you think, are they really happy with all this fame and money? They now have to live up to expectations of their fans and be able to produce the “best,” material for the business. This pressure may just lead to a breakdown.

These public lifestyles of the famous are creating a generation of unhappy, and unemotional detached youth. When you look on the outside of these shows they are just forms of entertainment, but when one delves deeper, you can see how carefully packaged and detailed they are to affect their audience. In my opinion, I would hate to waste my time watching these mindless pawns of MTV pretend that their lives are awesome and everyone should want to buy into what they are selling. I really think people should start asking questions about what they are watching on the boobtube and whether or not it is actually "reality." On a lighter note, I am going to just laugh how awesomely ridiculous Heidi Montag's "music" videos are and how her husband, Spencer was a director for one of them. Its brilliant, wow.

The Elusive American Dream

When I first started reading Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas (the drug inspired, loosely based adventure chronicling Hunter S. Thompson's crazy journalist technique), I thought it was unique and insane style of writing and comical way of looking at drug addiction. Little did I know that it was partly fiction based on the journalists' life and how he wrote stories and involved himself in them, creating a new style of journalism called Gonzo. Fear and Loathing on the surface was a hilarious look into the obsession with drugs and the self destruction tendencies that accompanies the culture. I also loved that Fear and Loathing, related to American culture of living the "dream" and looking for true happiness, and why people really go to Las Vegas to find something real and win the "jackpot."

The movie for Fear and Loathing was made famous with actors like Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro lighting up the screen and being bad ass with excessive amount of drugs and partying, they consumed as they portrayed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. My point is, that the movie was good and everything, but if you are inspired by the American dream concept, you would appreciate the novel and want to begin reading more of Hunter's work. I picked up The Rum Diary right away and began reading about this semi-fictional story about reporting in the tropics. I was also interested in the man behind the character in Fear and Loathing, which was Raoul Duke , and what his life was really

When I started reading The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson, I was amazed to find out there were more stories then I could ever imagine with Hunters' drug addicted bigger-than-life personality. If I could meet anyone it would be Hunter S. Thompson, even though he is no longer living. He was what made me really want to pursue journalism because he gave it a new life rather than mindlessly reporting the facts and being dry and emotionally unattached to the writing. I have some motivation to fight for being a independent writer even at the cost of living in poverty just to express anything I feel like writing, and travelling to find amazing ground breaking stories, rather than the traditional objective journalism.

Most people would not think a drug addicted egotistical man who has written about the Hells Angels, the dark side of politics, doing drugs, being a sheriff, and rebelling against authority, would be a proper role model. I strongly disagree, and to me, he is an inspiration for young journalists and free spirits to follow their passion and to find their own style. He did of course change the face of journalism and created too much controversy for The New York Times to handle, so why wouldn't any reporter want to do the same?

"If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past 10 years, about 600 people-including me-would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism," -Hunter S. Thompson

An illustration by Ralph Steadman for the artwork in Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas

If you want to sink, then I`m gunna let you.

As I drive to and from school three times a week for 45 minutes, I desperately needed a good amazing cd to listen to that had some kind of meaning. I finally found the leaked version of "Daisy," which is the fourth album from indie-rock band, Brand New. The actual cd will be released September 22nd (tomorrow!) for purchase rather then downloading. I wouldn't have even known Brand New was working on a album to go on tour with if I hadn't gone to see one of my old favourite bands, Taking Back Sunday, play at the Kool Haus in Toronto last month, and saw a poster that they were also coming to the Kool Haus in November. I was a bit skeptical when I started listening to Daisy, because I thought I would not be hearing the same lyrically brilliant chorus' and verses that vocalist Jesse Lacey was so famous for. I thought that the whole album had a much darker concept and was showcasing the Band's talent for variety and evolving with their music. Songs that I listen to over and over again, like Vices and Noro are much darker and rougher with more screaming and references on going to hell, then the Band's earlier work with Deja Entendu when it was all about the catchy choruses and what the main stream would be into. To me, Jesse and possibly the other members of the band are going through hard times now and seem to be in a dark place since they just finished the album, and are not enjoying writing music and playing upbeat lyrics as they did earlier in their careers. I really hope this album doesn`t signify the end of Brand New. If you are looking for some new desperately haunting music that has some meaning, you should check out Daisy, and if your ears like what they hear, then BUY IT-DON`T DOWNLOAD!