Tim Tebow and the Media

Group Members: Corey Beliles, Heather Jacobs, John Massingale, Madelyn Webster

The Over-indulgence of Living

I think that most hardcore gamers tend to delude themselves. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but from what I've seen from my friends and people I've met that are hardcore gamers, most of them don't really seem too concerned with real-world affairs. It's not that they don't care, but it's just that they seem much more focused on how well they do on their favorite game than they are with being successful in the real world or trying to solve any pressing worlds issues.

I agree with the student in class who said that gamers should think about stopping when they get a certain age or reach maturity and then put the skills they learned in the virtual world to use in the real world. There's no doubt that people can learn important skills while playing video games, but at some point people should grow up and stop piddling around at home all day. Of course, I say this as a big movie buff who watches movies all the time and someone could say the exact same thing to me. But I believe that everything should be done in moderation if we want to try to be well-rounded people.

Gamers can't expect to contribute anything genuine to the real world if they're shut in their rooms all day, and you can apply that to reading, painting, drinking, working out, watching movies, etc. People can and should be able to do these things freely and as they choose, but we can't expect anything major to be done on our planet if we over-indulge on everything we do. It's never been practical and it never will be.

Exercise is Key

I thought the lecture on food culture yesterday was really interesting. One aspect that I think we didn't discuss enough of was how important exercise is in a healthy lifestyle. People focus so much on the quality of food aspect of it, but there isn't enough attention of promoting a overall healthy lifestyle, in my opinion.

I recently started working out a lot, partially due to Spring Break, and partially because I was edging down the chubby slide and didn't want to go any further. I've never been a fat guy, but college has definitely changed my body since high school. I usually work out three times a week, usually forty minutes to an hour, and it's really shown me how important exercise is towards not just being healthy, but feeling healthy. Maybe I've just matured a lot since high school, since I was incredibly lazy and had a high metabolism to rely on back then, but I think people need to be more aware of how much exercise can do for your outward appearance, as well as your overall quality of life.

The article about the guy who decided to blog about losing pounds was the only one that seemed to focus on this out of the four of them. As I've mentioned before, I think blogging and social media are narcissistic in nature and the guy who was doing it seemed to be doing it to look good to others and boost his own ego. But, there was a sincerity to his approach that made him likable and inspiring. My point is is that as important as eating food that isn't genetically modified and enhanced is and farmer's markets might be the best way to go to get the best quality food, I think people should devote equal time to testing and pushing their bodies. I love KFC and Wendy's as much as the next person (especially KFC), but I realize that there is a price to pay if I eat that stuff and just sit around and waste away all day.

How bout try it cooler?

It's been several weeks since we had the lecture on culture of cool, but it's been on my mind a lot recently. I think that our society, since the 1950s, seems to focus too much on our appearance and how we present themselves to others. I'm not sure how much further we can take this mentality because I think eventually we're going to have to reassess what really matters and how it affects the planet at large.

I brought up the 50s because that was the era of rock n roll and James Dean. Dean is still a universal figure and representation of coolness, and I think people will forever know his image, even if they've never seen one of his movies. As a person that has seen all three of his movies in his short but brilliant career, I think Dean was a dynamic person who stretches far beyond the simplistic bounds that being "cool" seems to allow people. Dean's characters were rebellious, which has never gone out of fashion, but they were unsure of themselves and vulnerable. He was a blend of masculinity and femininity that most "coolhunters" seem to gloss over and deem unworthy of attention. But since he was handsome, he was a image that advertisers could exploit and market to the same vulnerable and impressionable youth that Dean was so emblematic of and hold him over people's heads.

Today, it seems that people box themselves in so much to try to fit in, that they destroy who they really are. As a person that deals with such anxieties, I find myself trying to dial back and smooth my image so people will like me more, and it's depressing sometimes. I think things like "Well, I guess if I'm not as good looking as James Franco, then I probably shouldn't even try to date girls," which I know is stupid, but I nevertheless think that from time to time. People should be more willing to let their guards down and be more expressive. This pursuit of being cool is such a pointless endeavor because no one knows when they'll die, and if all you leave behind is some superficial exterior, then nobody will have known the real you, and that could be a real tragedy.

Let's Just Laugh

First of all, I was kind of annoyed with Tuesday's lecture. I felt that we were digging too deep into something that really didn't need to be explored that much. My belief is that what's funny is funny. I have zero bias against women or men. I think that, like racism, it would be best to not talk about these sorts of things and let it sort itself out on its own. I believe Morgan Freeman said something similar along those lines.

To me, being funny is a mutual thing that all people share. If a man is acting goofy, such as Chevy Chase or Jerry Lewis, then a woman has as good a chance as him at conveying the same emotion. We talked about Kristen Wiig and Tina Fey in the class discussion. When Kristen Wiig plays a really goofy character, I basically forget about her being really attractive and just see her as a person who is making me laugh. The same goes with Tina Fey. They have been trained in the arts of improvisation and comedic timing, so they can match any man who has also been trained in the exact same things any day of the week.

The fact that we choose to point it out seems to be a distraction from bigger problems in the world. But one can argue that that is what popular culture and the media does. It's a giant distraction from the problems that we face as a human race, for better or for worse. But you could also argue, we need distractions sometimes.

Heroism and Entitlement

    I found the articles and discussion of the princess and superhero culture very interesting today. From my perspective, we have to get our kids to understand that they're not entitled to anything. I feel like that's one of the biggest problems with our American, and possibly the world in general, society because when the future generations keep regurgitating this idea that we need to be idolized and glorified for no good reason at all, then the positive work ethic that our parents and grandparents generations epitomized will be gone and laziness will dominate, although you could argue that that might have already happened.

    When I was a kid, I loved playing with superhero action figures. Batman was easily my favorite, but I also liked Superman, Spiderman and others. Batman was the most appealing because he had the most interesting villains. The Joker, Two-face, The Riddler, Catwoman, and others were just as appealing as the hero was and I still feel that way today. I think that provides an interesting link to our discussion because there's a risk of kids not only wanting to be like a superhero, but also trying to imitate the behavior of their respective villains. When The Dark Knight came out, everyone seemed to idolize and take massive delight in Heath Ledger's Joker, myself included, more so than the seemingly heroic deeds of Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman. What does that say about a society that finds a terrorist that kills people and blows up buildings without flinching more interesting and exciting than someone standing up and protecting our interests and lives? Possibly not much good.

    On another note, my three year old niece gets spoiled rotten and could be classified as getting the princess treatment. She's a sweet girl at her core, but she gets very bossy and undisciplined like the girls talked about in the articles and in the videos. I don't want to tell my sister that she's raising her child wrong, but I fear that my niece will go down a road where she feels entitled to everything and wants to do things not because it's good for her, but because she just can. It seems to be a very slippery slope for parents to make their children feel special but also disciplining them and teaching them to respect others and treat others as well as they perceive themselves to be.