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Hello, Fellow Popular Culture Class Members.  Since the class is over, I am probably going to delete this blog.  Feel free to follow my other blogs if you like: http://mikeirvan.wordpress.com or http://mikeirvan.blogspot.com.  Thanks.

Written Analysis 5

It seems that a lot of popular culture theories we studied and wrote about for our topic choices fit the “Star Wars” films well.  It is difficult to figure out which theories best related to “Star Wars.”  I think if I had to pick the best ones, they would be the theories of rituals, heroes, and formulas.

            Rituals I would choose because they are all over the “Star Wars” saga.  You have the “Force” which causes Jedi knights and sith lords to meditate about certain things, which is a common ritual in the saga.  We also see the lightsaber, which is a Jedi’s right to passage.

            Heroes is a great theory for “Star Wars” because they are obviously all over in the saga, just like any other action-adventure tale.  Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even new characters like Rey and Finn are heroes.  The series even had anti-heroes like Anakin Skywalker.  There are several heroes the series had.  Too many to mention.  How can you not think of the theory of heroes as being one of the best theories used in “Star Wars?”

            Formulas are also obviously one of the best theories for the saga.  It’s pretty easy to pick out that “Star Wars” fits into science fiction and action-adventure.  It even has a little bit of the romance formula in it when you look at the relationships between Anakin and Padme or Han Solo and Leia.  When we think of science fiction, we usually think of going to distant planets, meeting different creatures, and even politicizing the universe.  Sometimes we even picture space battles in this formula, and the space battles also fit the action-adventure formula.  Its main formula is, of course, the science fiction formula and you notice this right away.  Some who have never seen it know it as science fiction.

            I think for me, the most interesting findings with these analyzes is discovering its formulas.  Before, I just looked at it as just having the science-fiction formula and nothing more, but in looking back on the entire “Star Wars” saga, there are many formulas that are used that I didn’t necessarily think about until I started writing this.  Science Fiction, Action Adventure, Romance all fit the saga of “Star Wars.”  The formula of “Fantasy” might also fit for “Star Wars,” and I’m sure the list can go on.

            How differently will I think of the “Star Wars” saga now?  I’m not too sure.  However, understanding the different formulas used in it helps me to understand some of the reasons why it's so popular.  It’s a swashbuckling fantasy tale, which also has a little bit of romance in it.  This is also why people flock to go see “Pirates of the Carribean,” “Lord of The Rings,” and “Harry Potter,” among other adventurous, magical, romantic films wrapped up into one.

References

Columbus, C. (Director), & Heyman, D. (Producer). (2001). Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone [BluRay]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Jackson, P. (Director), Jackson, P., Osborne, B.M., Walsh, F., & Sanders, T. (Producer). (2001). Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [BluRay]. United States: New Line Cinema.

Lucas, G. (Director), & Kurtz, G. (Producer). (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [BluRay]. United States: 20^th Century Fox.

Verbinski, G. (Director), & Bruckheimer, J. (Producer). (2003). Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [BluRay]. United States: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

Written Analysis 4

The formula for “Star Wars” seems very fitting for the science fiction genre.  It also appears that George Lucas invented the formula since even though science fiction films have been around since the beginning of film, there was nothing quite like “Star Wars,” and ever since “Star Wars” first came onto the scene in 1977, there have been copycat type films, but nothing quite as good as “Star Wars” was, of course.

            In “Star Wars,” you have people who visit planets in different galaxies and solar systems.  You also have people who meet different beings on these different planets, and sometimes these people even fight these different beings and even befriend these beings.  They are also on the hunt for different worlds, and politicizing these worlds and bringing them together in peace and harmony.  Hmm… This kind of sounds like “Star Trek,” “The Last Starfighter,” or “Battlestar Galactica.”  However, none of them were as great as “Star Wars,” nor will they ever be.  All these films came out to cash in on the formula George Lucas created with “Star Wars.”  Even though “Star Trek” was a television show for a couple of years in the 1960s, it wasn’t until “Star Wars” came out in 1977 that they decided to make a movie version.

            Movies like these continue to be made, but none has truly seen the success that the “Star Wars” franchise has seen.  They are still popular though because of the fantasies they bring out in us.

            In looking back at the formula for “Star Wars,” it makes me think about how funny formulas are in pop culture.  They lead people to think about obvious thoughts when they go to watch movies, and they just make you want to make fun of the formulas.  How often have we watched a movie and we thought “don’t do it” because we knew what was about to happen?  There have been several movies made that make fun of the formulas.  “Spaceballs” comes to mind when thinking about films that made fun of the “Star Wars” formula.

References

Brooks, M. (Director), & Brooks, M. (Producer). (1987). Spaceballs [BluRay]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Castle, N. (Director), & Adelson, G. & Denault, E.O. (Producer). (1984). The Last Starfighter [BluRay]. United States: Universal Pictures.

Larson, G.A. (Creator). (1978). Battlestar Galactica [Television Series]. United States: British Sky Broadcasting.

Lucas, G. (Director), & Kurtz, G. (Producer). (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [BluRay]. United States: 20^th Century Fox.

Wise R. (Director), & Roddenberry, G. (Producer). (1979). Star Trek: The Motion Picture [BluRay]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Written Analysis 3

There are many heroes featured in the entire Star Wars series.  Some of the people who played such heroic characters have also become famous because of the character. 

One example of this is Luke Skywalker played by Mark Hamill.  He is definitely a hero to most.  Here is a character with a rags to riches story: He was a nobody on a desert planet, who wanted to be a pilot for the rebel alliance.  Because of his adopted parents getting killed, he ends up finally becoming a pilot.  This chain of events leads to him fighting with the rebel alliance against the dark side of the force, mainly Darth Vader.  He then helps rescue Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher.  Folklore has always had tales of heroes fighting evil and saving a princess, and people always admired these heroes.  Mark Hamill wasn’t even known until the original Star Wars film was released, and have we really seen him in anything else since the original trilogy?  Yet he has a lot of fans because of how heroic his character is.

            Another example is Harrison Ford as Han Solo.  Even though he was in a couple movies before Star Wars, it was Star Wars that made him a big name on the big screen.  People like the character of Han Solo because he’s tough and humorous, and he doesn’t seem to show any fear.  He’s a very adventurous character, and Harrison Ford played the role so well, that it’s perhaps why we see him as another iconic character and hero to some: Indiana Jones.

            There are even some heroic female characters that the female population even love and admire.  Normally when you see female characters, you normally see damsels in distress who are too weak to fight back.  Not Princess Leia.  She definitely knows how to fight and protect herself and take care of her own, and her character helped make Carrie Fisher a household name as well.  We see the same with Padme who took Natalie Portman from minor roles to much bigger roles.  A lot of girls in our population admire her.  However, there is a new female warrior in town who will aim to please the female population: Rey from Episode VII.  We probably haven’t heard of many things starring Daisy Ridley yet, but I’m sure her appearance as Rey in the new Star Wars series will make her a hero to a lot of young girls, and also a household name.

References

Abrams, J.J. (Director), & Abrams, J.J., Burk, B., Kennedy, K. (Producer). (2015). Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens [Motion Picture]. United States: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Kershner, I. (Director), & Kurtz, G. (Producer). (1980). Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [BluRay]. United States: 20^th Century Fox.

Lucas, G. (Director), & Kurtz, G. (Producer). (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [BluRay]. United States: 20^th Century Fox.

Lucas, G. (Director), & McCallum R. (Producer). (1999). Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [BluRay]. United States: 20^th Century Fox.

Metafiction In The Funny Papers: A Journal Analysis

Metafiction is a writing technique we usually see used in comic strips.  It is used to draw attention to a character’s status as an artifact.  These characters tend to have questions about their worlds versus reality.  Irony and self-reflection are most typically used.  It is used mainly in comic strips, and until reading the article I just read, I never knew about metafiction nor why some comics are written how they are.  Now that I know what it is and recognize it, it makes reading the comic strips more interesting.  The article I read was titled “Living in the Funnies: Metafiction in American Comic Strips.”.

The author of the article mentioned there are several categories of metafiction: Intertexuality, transtexuality, Metatexuality, Paratexuality, and Architextuality.  Intertexuality, transtexuality, and Metataxuality are the only categories I seem to understand.  Intertexuality is a co-presence of two texts or works, either through the form of quoting the other medium, plagiarism, or implicit allusion. 

In comic strips, all examples of these are used, according to the author of the article.  We see references to some well-known paintings used in “Calvin and Hobbes.”. We also see reference to a famous 1930s film used in the same comic strip.  We have also seen references to how soap operas are shot in several comics.  Also, on April Fools Day one year, several comic strip writers let their characters invade other comic strips.

When faced with reality, the author of the article stated several things characters would do as a pun to their reality.  Calvin’s grandpa in “Calvin and Hobbes” complains about comics in one strip.  The characters of “Calvin and Hobbes” are also always questioning their reality, much like the characters of one of my favorites, “Pearls Before Swine.”. One character erased himself, and another hit the author of the strip on the head stating, “in theory, that didn’t hurt.”

I am actually glad I read this article.  Before I read it, I wasn’t too sure what I was going to get out of it, but I found it very interesting and informative.  I think if you would read it as well, you would also have a better understanding of why we see certain techniques used in the world of comic strips.

I agree with the author’s main points on this article.  I have read the funny pages ever since I was a little kid, I even have a couple books from a couple of favorite comic strips.  I see a lot of reality questioned by these characters.  I have also seen several references to other sources used in the comics.  Seeing these techniques used in them, makes the comic strips even more funnier, I think.

Furthermore, I do think this article is extremely important.  We should have a knowledge of what certain techniques are and why they are used.  If we know why they are used, we would understand more about the things they are used in.

References

Gonzalez, J.  (2014).  “Living in the Funnies”: Metafiction in American Comic Strips.  The Journal of Popular Culture, 47(4), 838-856.  Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.olinkserver.franklin.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&bquery=living+%26quot%3bin%26quot%3b+the+funnies&type=1&site=ehost-live

Married with Children: My Favorite Show

I know our teacher didn't ask us to post our "my favorite" paper to our blog, but I thought I'd post mine.
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Married with Children: My Favorite Show

One of my favorite shows of all time is “Married with Children.”  I love this show because of how creative the writing is for the show.  I am not too sure if anyone can really truly relate to this show in real life, but it is chock full of very funny scenarios, and obviously several stereotypes.

One stereotype featured in the show are blonde women being stupid. You see this in the character of Kelly Bundy.  According to an article found on realclearscience.com, it’s really unclear how this stereotype started.  The article went on to state that it was obviously started because of how blondes are portrayed in our popular culture.  Most movies and shows have blondes considered highly attractive however not very intelligent.  We also see dumb blonde jokes all the time, so we get this idea they are unintelligent.

Another stereotype featured in the show is that all men are pigs.  Al Bundy and his friends have this stereotype.  I couldn’t find any information about the history of this stereotype, but it seems to be a stereotype we see in a lot of shows and movies as well.  We see men portrayed in media as people who just want to go to strip clubs or bars and drink beer after work.  They are also portrayed as cheaters who want sex all the time and most of the time, not with their wives.  What exactly led to this stereotype?  I believe it has to do with our history.  Throughout history, men worked while women stayed home.  When men came home they just wanted to relax.  We also see cases in history where men would have a child with a woman and then end up leaving her, and also see cases where men grew disinterested in their women over time and left them for somebody else.  Over time, we eventually get this idea that all men are pigs.

We also see women portrayed as being nothing more but housewives who stay home and shop all the time.  Peggy Bundy resembles this stereotype.  But where did the idea come from?  According to an article I found posted on Colorado.edu, women’s roles in the 1950s were society driven.  They had to be perfect mothers, behaving wives, and smart and creative homemakers. While men were at work, women stayed home and took care of the children and cleaned house and cooked.  Even though Peggy Bundy isn’t the best example of this stereotype, perhaps that is what helps make the show so popular.  It somehow takes a typical stereotype and turned it around.  We normally seen housewives portrayed on shows as those who cooked and cleaned, instead we see Peggy as just a lazy housewife.  She would just watch Oprah, eat Bon-Bons and spend her husband’s money.

Another stereotype portrayed in “Married with Children” is feminism, which we see with the character of Marcy Darcy.  Marcy Darcy is a character who obviously can’t stand most men, especially ones who are like Al Bundy.  She is also a strong woman in the corporate world and is viewed as unattractive.  She’s also viewed as a women’s rights activist.  Many of the stereotypes about feminism are featured in an article on experienceproject.com.  All the stereotypes we see used in this show are obviously negative ones, but perhaps that’s what makes it work.

Stereotypes are used all over in the media, unfortunately.  Men are stereotyped to like muscle cars, beautiful women, and meat.  Hardees a couple years ago had commercials with an attractive woman in a bathing suit standing by a muscle car eating a Hardees thickburger.  Who were they trying to honestly sell the thickburger too?  We also see attractive women in bathing suits on covers of car magazines.  I do feel this stereotype isn’t right, though.  It just further encourages the thought that “all men are pigs.”  According to a business article on chron.com, there are many unfortunate stereotypes used in advertising, including ads making newly-wed men seem incompetent and the woman is always in control if they buy a certain product.  Some advertisements also still depict women as being domesticated who do nothing but take care of household chores, to name a few.

Unfortunately, we focus too much on stereotypes in people.  Instead of trying to judge people by the content of their character, we judge them by these stereotypes.  We see people with glasses, and we don’t want to be around them because we believe they are nerdy.  We see people dress a certain way and we think they are troublemakers when chances are they probably aren’t.  We see people act or talk a certain way, and we automatically think they are stupid or dumb.  I am not a fan of using stereotypes, but unfortunately in society we do.  We judge others when we shouldn’t.  This is why I try to tell people if you don’t want to be judged by those who don’t know you, then take a look at how you present yourself to others and change some things about it so you won’t get judged or stereotyped.

References

(n.a.).  (n.d.).  I Am Against Feminism.  Retrieved from http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Am-Against-Feminism/2657716

Dickinson, K. (2012, July 14). Why Are Blondes Considered Dumb?  Real Clear Science.  Retrieved from http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/07/why-blondes%20are%20dumb.html

Joseph, C. (n.d.). Types of Stereotyping in Advertising. Chron.com.  Retrieved from   http://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-stereotyping-advertising-11937.html

RoobixCoob (2005, November 17).  A Woman’s Role in the 1950s.  Retrieved from http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/women1950s.pdf

Written Analysis 2

There are many rituals that we see in the “Star Wars” franchise.  If you seen any of the films, you would easily pick up on them.  One would even think the Jedi as even religious based.

One obvious ritual in “Star Wars” is the Force.  The Force is very religious based.  Some might relate the Force to “God.”  As Obi-Wan Kenobi states in Episode IV, “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power.  It’s an energy field created by all living things.  It surrounds us and penetrates us.  It binds the galaxy together.”  If you are sensitive to it, you could use it.  There is also a good side and evil side to it.  A light side and dark side.  The character of Yoda has stated several things about it.  In Episode V he says, “For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.  Life creates it, makes it grow.  Its energy surrounds us and binds us.”  In Episode I, Yoda also made a statement about what causes some Jedi to go to the dark side of the Force.  “Fear is the path to the dark side.  Fear leads to anger.  Anger leads to hate.  Hate leads to suffering.”  

Another obvious ritual is the light sabers.  To me, this is considered a ritual because a Jedi’s right to passage is his light saber.  Only the Jedi have one, and the colors of them are significant in themselves.  Only the Sith (who are the dark side of the Force). have red lightsabers which signify anger, hatred, and power.  The Jedi Knights have blue and green lightsabers.  Blue signifies justice and protection.  The ones who use these are protectors and fighters for the light side.  The green ones are used by the Jedi who would rather negotiate or meditate to fix a problem instead of fighting.

Other rituals we see are Jedi training and meditation.  Jedi training is what teaches Jedis how to use the powers of the Force.  Meditation is similar to prayer.  And Jedis seem to get answers they need when they meditate.

I have gained much insight from applying the ritual theory to “Star Wars.”  As a Christian man, I see many similarities to these rituals and Christianity.  God is my force.  God is why I am who I am today.  God is why I have done well in school the past couple years, and why I have a better outlook on life right now.  Studying the bible, and a better understanding of what Jesus did is my training.  However, I have seen people choose a darker path in life and nothing good comes from it.  They would rather spit on you instead of being kind to you. I used to follow that path as well and was in very sad shape.  I have also seen prayers answered when people pray.  Some even considered miracles!