"High-School Confidential: Notes On Teen Movies"

In David Denby’s essay “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies” he takes a look at the predictability of the teen movie genre that plays upon the perceived world of teenagers. This world no doubt consists of the hierarchy of the school, the cheerleaders, jocks, preps and other popular figures who only deal with each other and make fun of those who are not like them, the middle population or the normal people who fit in with almost everyone and the supposed lower class of the community the nerds, punks, weirdoes and the misunderstood ones. These citizens of teen-world inhabit the malls as well as their schools and more often their bedrooms and other outlets that reflect their teen status. According to Denby, their only enemy is other teens and the social system that they impose on one another. There are always winners and losers in the end of the battle or in the menacing sub-genres there are revengeful desires that turn bloody. Denby also points out that the most original teen comedy is Clueless because it casts away the typical self pity road trip most teen movies take.

The Hollywood Sign: The Culture of American Film

In Chapter 4 The Hollywood Sign, the intro “The Culture of American Film” discusses the variety (and lack thereof) of movies in Hollywood, highlighting that the industry is filled with prequels, sequels and a whole lot of remakes while questioning their true meaning. The intro brings up the issue of Hollywood being stuck on reruns and doing repeats time after time. This leads to the discussion of postmodernism, a historical period and an attitude, that refers to the culture that has materialized in the wake of high-tech era, on obsessed with the latest electronic imagery and the products of society’s majority. When interpreting the signs of American film, movies can be viewed as metaphors for larger cultural concerns, for example the intro states that the original Godzilla was essentially a metaphor for the nuclear era. This chapter will definitely give you more to think about the next time you go to the movies.

Reality TV Meets Plastic Surgery: An Ugly Shame

In this essay, Anita Creamer discusses the issue of the rising popularity of plastic surgery reality television. Makeovers on television first began with remodeling and restoring old homes and updating other homes to the owner’s liking. Now reality television has a new fad, remodeling people and giving them complete makeovers because of their insecurities. Creamer questions the ethics and morals of Sha, a baby-faced 19 year old blonde whose life ambition is to look like Pamela Anderson and become a Playboy centerfold, as well as the rest of the people featured on MTV’s “I Want a Famous Face”- a show about young people who undergo surgery to look like their favorite celebrities. Creamer says that “ the eternal American habit of reinvention has come to this--remaking our faces and bodies instead of our lives; the annihilation of the self in the name of self-improvement”. These people feel that their outer self is flawed when the reality is that their inner self is really flawed.

The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life

In “The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life”, Carl Matheson discusses key points from the popular animated comedy as well as observations that have been made as far as how certain episodes have some sort of ironic reference to a movie, another television show or book. He also talks about how despite the irony of the situation, there is some sort of message in the show either directly or indirectly. To Matheson, “hyper-ironism is the most suitable form of comedy.” He also makes a point that comedy can be used to attack anybody who thinks they know all the answers to everything and that the Simpsons revels in the attack.

Music and Censorship

In Victor Lombardi’s essay “Music and Censorship” he discusses the importance of music and how it is viewed as literature and art, and also whether there should be censorship of some of their (music, art, literature) contents. When musical accompaniment is taken away from lyrics, the lyrics become a form of literature. Lyrics also make up an art form. Lombardi views musicians as artists who create something new using a certain amount of creativity. Art is important because it can communicate in ways other media can’t: art connects directly with emotions. Quoting a few writers he goes on to explain why the expression of these emotions, as art, music or whatever, should not be censored.

Women in Ads.."Killing Us Softly 3"

The DVD “Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image Of Women” relates to many ads in many magazines and television commercials. Killing Us Softly talks about how women are depicted in ads, as “sex objects” who are to remain passive and silent or as it was put in the DVD “you have the right to remain sexy”. To men, being passive and silent is equivalent to being sexy in advertising. It also talks about how sex is more important yet less important in ads, meaning if you look at the majority of ads, picking it apart in a reading between the lines manner, you will see that there is a sexual side to it. Most of the time its so obvious like this Skechers shoe ad I saw with Christina Aguilera in a double shot as a sexy cop and a girl bending over on the car as if she’s about to be arrested. They’re women’s shoes but you would think that ad was directed towards getting men’s attention. What would you think about this : http://pics.eccentric.cx/pictures/img.php?picid=9644 (hopefully the link works)

The Delight Of Words

This essay shows the universality of language. It compares Elizabethan Sonneteers with American Country Lyricists. At first you would probably think “what the heck do they have in common?” but they actually have a lot in common. The word lyric means a short poem that focuses on subjective or emotional topics. The Elizabeth Sonneteers used lyrics simply as poems but not really for musical purposes, meaning no music was applied. Country music however depends heavily on music for effect but without music the lyrics lose their effectiveness. The main similarity (other than language pattern) between the two is that they both express the many frustrations and joys of love but both types of lyricists emphasize figurative language. Musicians today, like the Sonneteers of the Elizabethan Era use the same types of metaphors.