Some of my favourite shows and movies are genre-bending and play with aspects of meta fiction. They're the kind of shows that step outside of the normal conventions of their genre and aren't afraid to laugh at themselves and acknowledge the flaws of their genre. One of my favorite examples of this is the NBC show Community.
Community is a fantastically genre-bending show that constantly steps outside the normal conventions of sit-coms. While one episode could focus on the group attempting to study for a Spanish exam the next could turn into a full-blown cop drama, taking on and making fun of all the tropes of the shows, even changing their opening credits and the show's atmosphere itself. It does this not just for crime shows, but also for Spaghetti Westerns, claymation Christmas films, zombie films and even Star Wars (but who hasn't done one of those?).
All of this is also done with a healthy dose of meta comedy that the show is iconic for. This is done mostly through the character Abed Nadir, one of the members of the main group, known as the "Greendale Seven". He often communicates with others socially through pop culture references often talking about what they would do if they were actually all on a television show and speculating whether or not they are. This allows the writers to spray pop culture and meta humour jokes all over
Abed. Literally a human meta joke.
the screen to their hearts content. Abed even creates a show about himself and his friends that seemingly predicts the future because of Abed's ability to view their patterns and apply them with television tropes. One very large example of his and the show in general's love of meta humour is one episode in particular that focuses on Abed as he makes a movie about Jesus, which quickly derails as it becomes a film about film-making where god is the camera and the film-maker is Jesus, The episode continues to expand out until it's just one big meta joke, showcasing the writer's love for these jokes and foreshadowing a lot of the humour in later episodes.
Overall, Community is a wonderful show that loves to laugh at itself and put cracks in the boundaries of what's expected of a genre and if I was trying to explain the concept of meta fiction to someone, I'd hand them a DVD of this show. It's one of the only shows I care to keep up with regularly because of it's originality, wit, self-referential humour and heart.
Music, along with books and television are is one of the most common and accessible forms of media and one of the biggest staples when it comes to music is the videos. Music videos were once almost as important to music as the artists themselves. They promote the band and help illustrate the song's message while providing a new dimension to the song.
Yeah, these guys
One of my favourite musical groups is The Lonely Island, a musical comedy group formed by Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and SNL's Andy Samberg. Their song Spring Break Anthem is a particular favourite of mine because it showcases their hilarious sense of humor as well making a fair point about what is socially accepted these days. The video shows college guys on spring break doing stereotypical, awful spring break guy things inter-cut with shots of them planning a wedding and getting married to other men. The whole video combines together with the song to show how ridiculous it is that the things people do on spring break is accepted while gay marriage is seen as weird or crazy by many people still.
Construction of Reality
The reality portrayed in this video is fairly similar to that of their other videos, but sticks a little closer to our reality then most of their songs. It slightly exaggerates the behavior of college students over spring break, unfortunately not enough to make the fact that behavior like this is considered normal less depressing. The video is made this way to visually promote how ridiculous behavior like this is while entertaining the audience. The song is also made this way to sound like one of the songs you'd typically hear at a spring break party. Overall, the video fits well with the rest of The Lonely Island's songs and adds quite a bit to the song itself.
Codes and Conventions
I love this song because it is full of stereotypes about party music and college students on spring break but it uses them in a way that doesn't just make fun of them, but uses them to make a valid point. The song screams typical crazy party music, young people drinking and partying, half naked girls and general awful people party activities. It combines this with an incredibly stereotypical portrayal of students partying over spring break doing all these crazy, drunken and incredibly awful things. The stereotypes are used as a large part of the video to get the message across.
Creeds and Values
The most prominent value expressed in this song is how ridiculous it is that, while the crazy, terrible things college students do while partying over spring break is considered normal the concept of gay men wanting to have the right to get married is seen as insane by so many people. While portraying college students as irresponsible and awful who get away with doing awful things over vacation, gay men are portrayed as generally normal; doing things any couple would do when planning a wedding. The video makes fun of the people who do this ridiculous partying and supports homosexuals who want to get married and want to care about each other and have rights like everybody else. http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9143-the-lonely-island/
Commercial
The video for Spring Break Anthem is a very effective way to promote not only the song, but the entire Wack album itself. The video is not only funny, but it also premiered on Zach Galifinakis's show Between Two Ferns and starred him and James Franco along with The Lonely Island. The song is aimed at young adults and fans of musical comedy and it hits it right on the mark by using well known guest stars and using a video that looks a lot like a lot of modern party music. The song itself doesn't work as well without the video and it helps bring the admittedly not subtle message of the song together to make an incredibly entertaining song.
While the point of videos are definitely to promote the band and their albums to some extent but this is one of the few videos I have seen lately that doesn't seem as commercial and try-hard-ish. The video is funny and entertaining and promotes a really positive message and is overall a very awesome video.
As much people may complain about today's media, I don't find it as awful as some do, in fact, I see it as quite important in my life. I not only use media to stay connected to the rest of the world every day, but I also use it as a tool to help with my school work, as a creative and emotional outlet and, for most of my life, something I can use as a basis too help define myself and who I want to be. The internet keeps me connected to everyone I know as well as a large chunk of humanity's collective knowledge (plus more pictures of cats doing weird things than any sane person needs...). Thanks to this, I can use social media sites like Facebook to get help with homework from classmates, connect and catch up with relatives and friends I may not have seen in a while, or just watch a video of strangers slapping each other in the face (The Slap). I also use media like books, and music as an emotional and creative outlet. When I'm frustrated, for instance, I listen to certain kinds of music to channel the anger and keep me occupied until it goes away or when I want to relieve stress I read a book and escape into the world of that story for a while. Media can also show me views and perspectives I've never seen before that can shape and effect my own views and perspectives. Even prominent people within the media can become role models that inspire me and help shape who I am and who I want to be some day. Overall, media is a fairly significant part of my life.
Me, in a nutshell
While media as a whole is important to me, there are certain aspects of the media that effect me more than others, particularly books, music and television. Books and reading always have been and always will be a huge part of my life. I've been reading for as long as I can remember and often preferred to read over other things growing up. After being introduced to the series through the movies, I started reading the Harry Potter series and it started a years-long love of the series. For years, all I talked about was Harry Potter. I even dressed up as Harry Potter every Halloween for years (sorry, no pictures...). Soon that love expanded out from just Harry Potter to books in general. I love books because while the author writes the story, it's really left up to the reader to interpret what the author wrote to bring it alive. This makes the world infinitely larger and a different experience for every reader.
A quote from one of my favourite books, Cloud Atlas
Music is one of the most common and most popular forms of media. I'm passionate about music in particular because it's such an accessible, diverse and common form of media. While many people have a favourite genre, I don't have any specific favourite. You would be hard pressed to find a genre that didn't have at least one song I enjoy because I love all the different kinds of sounds and styles and content that both modern and classic music offers, from indie to rock to classical. Music also helps me think and helps my ideas flow better when I play it while I'm working. It calms me and steadies my mind and helps me focus on my work, I honestly can't imagine working without it. I listen to music whenever my ears are not otherwise engaged and the first thing I grab before leaving the house is my IPod. I think it's safe to say that music is a rather large part of my life. Pillow Talk-Wild Child
Moonlight - Electric Cello-Beethoven/The Piano Guys
Television is another branch of media that has a rather significant impact on my life. These days I've started to watch it less and less, but it doesn't diminish the effect it has on me. When I was a really young child television was one of the few ways I could connect in anyway with my brothers that didn't involve physical violence. One of the only times my brothers and I ever spent time together without fighting was when we sat together to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings.
One of our favourite shows to watch together
As I've gotten older, I've stopped watching television as often as I used to, but it hasn't made it any less important to me. Of the few shows I still regularly watch the one that has the most impact on me is Doctor Who. The show has been one of my favourite things to watch for the past couple of years. I find the show exciting and interesting and the story incredibly original. The characters are interesting and well developed and clever. Plus, the characters have qualities and skills that I can aspire to have as well, more so than thoseof some of the real people others look up to.
My role model(s)
I also love Doctor Who and shows like it because it brings people together. People bond over their mutual love of these shows and characters and collectively make the show better by adding their own content and theories to the mix.
Talking about today's popular culture is a much more difficult task than it was 10 years ago. This is because it has become a far broader term thanks to our little friend, the internet. Popular culture isn't just what you see when you turn on your TV or read a magazine from the store anymore. It's what you see when you open your computer or check your newsfeed or read a text on your phone and there are so many groups and cliques and styles now that popular culture can't really be defined as a few certain trends. That said, that doesn't mean I like all aspects of popular culture- but that also doesn't mean I hate it all either. What I hate, are the parts of modern popular culture that suggest that the sluttier and less resposible you are, the more popular you'll be and the more fun you'll have. While I realize that some statistics related to that (i.e. teen pregnancy) have actually lowered since the days of our parents' teen years, I still don't enjoy how much more frequently it's presented to people my age as if it should be the norm. I know kids who barely even understand what sex is who idolize people like this:
I mentioned previously that I love the fans and fandoms of shows like Doctor Who because it brings people together in great ways, but there's also a flip-side to that coin. While most people involved in these fandoms are perfectly fine people who just generally enjoy something and like being a part of a group because of it, some people make the others bad by being violent and hateful of anyone who attacks the thing they love.
A good example of this can be seen on the internet in the form of a youtuber named Pewdiepie who makes video game Let's Plays. Now, personally, I am not a fan of the man's videos. I don't find them funny and I'm not sure if they really should be referred to as Let's Plays, but that doesn't mean I hate the man himself. I don't deny that the man seems like he is generally a really good guy, I just have little regard for his videos. My biggest problem is not actually with Pewdiepie himself, but with his fans. While many of his fans (referred to as Bros) are perfectly fine people, there is a select number of them are defensive and quite violent. They call themselves the Bro Army and have been known to threaten and harass people who speak ill of "Pewds". I've seen more that one occasion where people insult him or his videos and his fans don't hesitate to jump on said person and threaten them to the point where it can get genuinely terrifying.
I couldn't find any screenshots of comments or tweets to go with this, so here's another picture from Jackie Chan Adventures
There are still many parts of popular culture I love. I love the increased message of general acceptance for all people that is appearing in everything from books to television to movies more and more frequently, even if at times it feels mildly forced. I am also a fan of the idea that it can be cool to be nerdy or that it's "Hip to be Square" it makes me feel as though in the near future, people won't have to be stressed about being judged because they're gay or transgender or just generally different. Plus, I love how these days, popular culture has expanded to such a massive size that there really is something for everyone to connect with if you look hard enough.
As for today's media and technology, I find it both useful and harmful at times. Like any other tool, it's only as harmful or helpful as the people who use it. For example, I love the communication aspect of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter that allows people to keep in touch easily with others. For example, us Laurier students at BCI use a page on Facebook to talk about homework and exams and get any help they need.
Although, we mostly just use it to see who's lazier and talk about how much we hate the prospect of work.
I also use the internet to play games and do online shopping. I prefer this method to buying things in person at times because although you may not get it right away, it is often more convenient, easier to find what you're looking for and most times cheaper.
I've mentioned previously that I'm particularly passionate about music, books and television as branches of media, but there is one other that has struck a chord with me since I was very young, and that is video games.
People found this really hot somehow...
Video games have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories of spending time with my brothers involve us playing games or watching them play games like the original Mario or the first, blocky Tomb Raider game with too few polygons. To this day I still play video games often and have only become more fascinated with them as the years go on.
I love video games because, to me, they are one of, if not the, ultimate art form. Video games, particularly newer games combine the best parts of other media forms. They have amazing soundtracks by fantastic composers that help you lose yourself in the world of the game. Storytelling is also becoming an important part of games now. Many games have in depth stories that would work as full novels but with the added benefit of the player having an impact on how the story plays out and they are allowed to choose how much lore and exposition they receive through their in-game interactions. The graphics in games are also getting better and better as time goes on to the point where even worlds created in these games like Skyrim in Elder Scrolls V could be considered art on their own.
One of the things I love most about games though is that it is one of the most involved forms of media out there. You can listen to and connect with a song, but that's all it will ever be, you can't be anymore involved with the song as you're listening to it. You can read a book and imagine the world it's set in, you can only explore it as far as the information in the book combined with your imagination lets you, and your opinions and choices can't change the outcome of the story. In video games you can do all that and much more.
One of my favourite game series, The Mass Effect Trilogy, has a universe created through pages and pages of lore, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to. Throughout all three games you play as a commander in humanity's space naval division on a race against time to stop an ancient race of sentient machines from ritualistically wiping out the entire galaxy. Through the entire game you're forced to make decisions that not only shape and affect your character, but the entire galaxy around you. You form relationships with members of your team and most importantly, the decisions you make carry over from one game to the next, making you really feel as if the safety of the galaxy is in your hands. The whole game comes together with a beautiful soundtrack and a well developed story (Well, right up to the AI-ghost-kid thing...) and a beautifully crafted world to make an incredibly engaging experience.
Yeah, this bit was kinda... weird
Many people see games as little more than dumb distractions for kids and losers but looking at games closer up can show you that games can be much deeper than that. While some games are just for fun and have no deeper meaning than to just shoot a bunch of aliens until they explode to get points others do have far deeper meanings and are far more artistic. Nowadays people use games to state a message or to strike a chord with their players and get them really invested in the story/world they have created. They use them to show of their art by designing worlds that people can get invested enough in to spend hours with. It games like these that impact me, make me think and bring me closer to my friends with the interactivity and prove to me that not all video games are glorified toys.
...But then again, sometimes, shooting aliens until they explode can be more fun then taking part in an epic fantasy adventure...
Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about
So, that's where I stand with media. Overall, I enjoy media and today's popular culture, but sometimes I think they should give some things a bit of a rest.
