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Watching the lecture to see what this class is about has helped me to start thinking about what I am interested in. Taking a critical role in examining media examples is super interesting to me because we break down elements an average viewer does not. I like that there isn't a good or bad observation but a truthful analysis of what we examine. I am interested in cultural studies because as a COMS major, I want to better understand what society enjoys watching and how to grasp their attention.

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The reading by Engstrom emphasizes the idea of hegemony and the how much time and effort women put into weddings. Explaining why weddings are so important to women and that it is their day to feel special or like a celebrity. Men are expected to just be at the wedding and not have to worry about setting it up or putting in any work. The women are expected to look good and manage the entire wedding. Taking time away from their careers and lives they spend time on weddings to make sure it is perfect. The standards set by society and its norms expect women to have a perfect wedding and look like a perfect woman. They are expected to look a certain way and act a certain way. Society has put such a high standard for women, though it seems like men are not expected of anything.

So much money is poured into weddings, The Knot’s website drives so much traffic and attention from people who are preparing their weddings. Massive amounts of money are made in this industry. There is so much attention on weddings that representation is important. It is not just about men and women weddings but representing different genders and sexes. As well as having intersectionality as well. The main take-aways from this article I realized was that society is following a heteronormative way of doing things, such as weddings. Women have so much responsibility in setting their own weddings while the men are meant to relax and just be at the wedding on time. Weddings are so glamourized by society because media has represented this way.

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The component of power comes to mind when thinking about the political activism of fans. Many people doubted the power of social media and how much of a strong force it can be. If millions of people come together on social media, they indeed can create change just like the K-pop fans did. The fact that they can drown out bad hashtags or content on social media is crazy to me. As well as being able to match donations, the idea that so many fans can create such a big change. Power within numbers is what comes to mind when thinking about these fans and how much they can contribute.

When I think about political activism, I think about the Beatles. They have made such a huge impact with their music on trying to get everyone to be peaceful. I believe that without their music the world would be a little angrier and more violent. They fought for peace and many of their songs were about peace as well. I heard one of my friends say that BTS is compared with The Beatles these days and reading how much K-pop fans have done for society, I can see why that is true.

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The image taken from McDonalds depicts a boy mixing two fluids into a drink. The signifier is the boy wearing googles, lab coat, and with an intrigued look on his face. As well as the two science looking bottles and in the middle a McDonalds cup. What can be taken away as the signified is the idea that the boy is a scientist. He is doing something scientific by mixing the two fluids. He is creating something as a young boy. The title says “13-year-old me filling my cup with every soda.”

Altogether that creates the sign of childhood nostalgia. How children who ate at McDonalds would head over to the drink machine and get all the flavours we wanted and mix it to create something that tastes good. The image is how we saw ourselves as little scientists creating something amazing. McDonalds did this in a great way of doing it like a meme. Activating that inner child inside of us, reminding us of the good times.

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One of the concepts that I found most important was the idea that for change to happen in the feminist movement, we need to acknowledge that problems are present. Women are being over-sexualized and seen as individuals that need saving. Many of us might say that this is normal, but we have been so deeply rooted by media and movies that ingrain us to think this way. The first step is to say that there is a problem and women are not treated equally. As a man, I want other men to realize that if it was their mother, sister, or wife being treated or sexualized in a way they disliked, they would understand better. Though it might seem like a generalization to say men, men are not taught this in-depth enough in grade school. Understanding heteronormativity and the male gaze is something we need to start addressing more and educating people.

Another concept I found important was that even though women are starting to have lead roles and more screen time, this is not enough. There seems to be a fallacy that to be feminist means to hate men, this is angers me because many of the men I’ve met in life seem to have an idea of how women should act or be like and it appalls me. As soon as they hear someone is a feminist, they think of negative connotations to it. It is important to educate people and attach positive connotations to the word feminism. Women are so overly sexualized in video games that men seem to have an idea that women should act and look the way they do in video games.

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I did not know how the heterosexual normalizing views dominated how society saw trans people. They are so misrepresented in society that everyone seems to have a generalization about them. The part of the documentary where the trans actors had to play roles that created a false general idea about them was hard to watch. Their struggles to make it through a dominant heterosexual society are super interesting. I was most compelled by their point of view, and how they have so much emotion and stories to tell but society seems to not care about them. When one of the actors said she walked onto the train and everyone laughed at her, I felt sad and shocked.

The concept of intersectionality was brought up, how in the movie, Boys Don’t Cry, it was based on a true story but there was an African American friend that was there too and was never put in the movie. The idea that trans people and African American people cannot be in the same movie because they want to focus on one idea is hard for African American trans people. The whitewashing of trans people was hard for any African American person who wanted to feel like they fit into society.

I learned that so many of us are scared that we may say the wrong thing towards trans people. This Netflix documentary has pushed me to not go with my first reaction of what I thought of trans people. What I have seen in media has given me a judgmental lens of what I think of trans people. I feel regretful and guilty of that. But I do feel lucky to have people around me to educate me on that because I know many of my guy friends are nowhere close to knowing how trans people have been represented in media. I have a duty to call them out on harsh comments or feelings that they may have towards trans people.

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The main argument created in this is the idea that different cultures are being glamourized and seen as special. It also creates the idea that being a white person is normal. We need to stop seeing USA and Canada as the dominant white main culture. When one says to “eat the other” it means that taking a specific cultural aspect and applying it to themselves to make themselves seem special or unique. When people shade themselves as darker toned that is called black facing. They want to look unique or like they are from another culture. That is considered “eating the other.” Many of people I know may say that white people have no culture, but that white culture is the dominant and normal culture.

“Transformed by his new “black heart,” Mooney learns how to be more seductive, changes his attitudes towards race, and, in perfect Hollywood style, wins the girl in the end. Unabashedly dramatizing a process of “Eating the Other” (in ancient religious practices among so called “primitive” people, the heart of a person may be ripped out and eaten so that one can embody that person’s spirit or special characteristics), a film like Heart Condition addresses the fantasies of a white audience” This quote makes the most sense when describing to “eat the other” physically becoming a part of a unique culture has become romanticized.

We need to critically look at how society shapes to “eat the other’ and address the problems that are what seems to be a normal part of our day. It is shocking to know in our popular culture that to “eat the other” is so prominent and out in the open.

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Queer reading analyzes and challenges normative societal stereotypes. It helps to identify problems and issues hidden in specific items such as movies, readings, and tv shows. When we think about popular media cultures we are surrounded by heteronormative thinking and stereotypes. Queer reading can help these normative values to be questioned and get people to start thinking twice about stereotypical heteronormative values.

The newest movie on Netflix, Love Hard, is about a girl looking for love. She matches with a man on her online social match app, when she finds the man she is talking to is not the handsome man she matched with she is stricken with anger and feelings of betrayal. This movie portrays a typical Asian nerd stereotype. He is into candle-making and lives with his parents. In a society as a man who wants to make candles, society portrays that as an ‘unmanly’ hobby. This movie addresses the idea that the ideal man to match with online dating apps is a good-looking man who does manly tasks and does not show feminine values. Although the female protagonist ends up falling in love with that Asian man, the question arises whether she would have matched with him if he showed his true self, when she would only say yes to handsome men on her feeds.

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The most compelling thing I learned was the struggle and unawareness in representation of trans people. Watching the documentary “Disclosure” really opened my eyes when I was watching it. It changed my perspective and outlook on trans people. Although I never had much of a thought, I realized that it was important to know and be able to be respectful about it, and always correcting people for any misleading statements some people may have towards the trans community. Media has cemented my thoughts and outlooks on life, that this class really helped me to re shape my mind. I am glad I was able to take this class because I would have probably been oblivious to these critical analyzations of media. It really challenged me to think differently and change what normal view I had on the trans community. People really treat each other terribly because of how different they may be or because they don't fit into what society expects them to be.

I am glad to be living in a day and age where all popular culture is being critically examined and being called out. We cannot expect change to happen right away but eventually and gradually. The heteronormative views we have on society is something everyone must start questioning and I feel have a duty to do whomever I am around. I am also glad I have kind parents that aren’t bigoted, racist, or stuck with traditional views. Watching the documentary “Disclosure” and watching how Jen Richards was not accepted by her family was heart breaking.

The reading that is the most important to me in this course is Hook’s to “Eat the Other” that depicts how society has made white culture mainstream and the dominant force.  It shows the beginnings of where heteronormativity and hegemony come from. We have failed to observe and address these problems, and I hope that changes in the future. We put media on such a high pedestal that anything we see or read, we automatically believe to be true. The idea of marketing and TV shows cloud our judgments and minds. Throughout my life, I want to be able to look at all media from a critical standpoint, to not believe in everything I see right away and be able to question it. I want to be able to teach that to other people, that they have a choice to take everything anyone says with a grain of salt.