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Say it like "Lore" not "Laur"!!

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Some things in popular culture I find interesting...

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Some things in popular culture I find interesting...

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My name is Lawrenzo Baldove, a 2nd year EMC student, an artist, and a writer. As a gen z child, a member of the internet generation, popular culture comes naturally to me. From gen z slangs to references, they're all something I notice on a daily basis. While older people find in unnatural or tacky, I find that our popular culture has its charms. While it's filled with sarcasm, angst, and even dark humor, gen z popular culture is unafraid to criticize or satirize politics and society.

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If you read books, Booktok is unavoidable.

Tiktok has undoubtedly been an agent of pop culture, spreading memes, references, and other forms of media sporadically. Books - despite being one of the oldest forms of media - still remain relevant as ever. And Booktok is a quintessential example of its relevance. People share memes, funny things, comedic references, and recommendations of their favorite books.

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The Hurricane Wars (B&N Exclusive Edition)

by Thea Guanzon

A remarkable debut fantasy inspired by Southeast Asian mythology, The Hurricane Wars features an enemies-to-lovers romance, incredible world-building and a unique magic system. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, The Hurricane Wars is everything you love about Romantasy in one delectable package .

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Discover top trending book recommendations from TikTok. BookTok features some of the best reads for 2021 including new releases & books becoming TV series.

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Gaylingo is taking over the world. Even straight people are using it!

Language is natural, and a part of its nature is change. Today, it's a very normal thing to see everyone say "Slay", or "Queen!", or even combining them into "Slay Queen!". It's come to the point that even gay tribes like twinks, bears, and otters are being used to describe men regardless if they are queer or not. The spread of this behavior started in stan twitter, from fans of Main pop girls (MPGs), essentially, the most successful female pop singers right now. With the advent of Tiktok, gaylingo has been spreading faster than ever with queer-led algorithms spreading in mainstream spaces.

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From Lana Del Rey, to Mistki, to Fiona Apple, we love sad girl music.

Taylor Swift is undoubtedly the most popular artist in the world right now, so when she released Folklore (2019) a bittersweet slow record, the world caught on, and sad girl music has been less and less of a niche. Today, it has become a really popular thing - embracing sadness, and showing vulnerability. Tiktok also caught the drift, using this type of music for slower videos, backgrounds for sad moments. To add to this, using music on Tiktok leads makes it get more streams in music platforms, creating a cycle.

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There’s a distinct pleasure in finding the music that perfectly expresses how you feel, especially when you’re a young woman entering an unwelcoming world that reveals itself to be built for men. Laia Garcia-Furtado on why songs about feeling bad can make you feel so good.

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Harry Potter Houses : Our obsession with belongingness

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Harry Potter Houses : Our obsession with belongingness

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Are you a Gryffindor? Perhaps a Slytherin?

Harry Potter: any gen z/Millennial has probably gone through a phase where the book and movie series was their own identity. The four primary colors with the added yellow is all too familiar for us, each color representing a personality. Gryffindors proud and honor-bound; Slytherins are cunning, identity-driven; Ravenclaws are intelligent, unique, and Hufflepuffs are sociable, charismatic. In the height of its popularity, we all kept asking other people, "what's your house?" The reason for this is simple: people like to feel included in a group, and this is something we can see in other faction-related media: Game of Thrones and its kingdoms, even Divergent and its factions.

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Harry Potter's houses will not be relatable as they are if not for its heavy dependency on Semiotics. Essentially, there are two things in Semiotics that we need to tackle here: Symbolism and color; both elements work hand-in-hand for semiotics (Caivano, 1998). For symbols, animals are heavily used. Let's take a look at Gryffindor as an example. A lion is fierce, strong, and their behaviors, with how lax they are can be seen as prideful (pride of lions). To contrast, serpents - Slytherin - are seen as cunning and deceitful; a raven is intelligent, observant, and a badger is peaceful, and harmonious.

That said, a symbol cannot exist without color, and this is where color semiotics take place. The artists and the author were very deliberate in having the color compliment the symbol animal. For one, red is the symbol of passion and pride; the glaring red behind Gryffindors symbol only intensifies the characteristics the lion already represents, making it very purposeful and consistent. While green normally represents nature, a darker hue represents poison, danger, things we already associate with serpents. Ravenclaw's blue represents serenity and wisdom. When we think blue, we normally think the water - it's old, flowing, and holds secrets. This adds complexity to the Ravenclaw identity. Lastly, the yellow in Hufflepuff adds to the gentle, peaceful nature of the house. Idealism and optimism are things we normally associate with the color. Semiotics is not just a tool for marketing or layout; it's a very good tool storytellers can use to mark characteristics and personalities. And though I don't see eye-to-eye with J.K. Rowling's politics, I'd say this was a clever storytelling device.

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The Harry Potter series introduced readers and viewers to the Wizarding World and its most notable characters, objects, and settings, among those the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one of the finest institutions in the Wizarding World, which is organized into four houses - and here's the meaning of every Hogwarts house and their respective symbols as well. The Wizarding World is one of the most extensive and beloved worlds in the fantasy genre, and it all began in 1997 with the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first entry in a series of seven novels following "The Boy Who Lived" and his battle against Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard alive who had dangerous plans for the Muggle and Wizarding worlds.

The Harry Potter novels quickly made the jump to the big screen in a series of eight movies, as the final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was split into two movies, and while they made various changes to the source material in order to fit the format and narrative, they mostly stayed loyal to the books, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in this rich universe. One of the most exciting things about the big screen adaptation of the Harry Potter novels was getting a good look at Hogwarts, one of the most important places in the novels and in the history of the Wizarding World, as it's not only the school Harry Potter and other prominent wizards attended, but it's also a notable school founded by a group of brilliant wizards, each one with a different vision for the young wizards and witches they hoped to train.

Related: Harry Potter Theory Explains How The Sorting Hat Sorts Hogwarts Students

Every new student in Hogwarts has to go through a process with the Sorting Hat in order to be assigned to one of four houses, depending on their dominant traits and potential. These houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, each of them with a unique crest representing one of the founders of Hogwarts and the traits they valued the most, so each one has a unique story - and here's what each Hogwarts house represents and what their symbols mean.

Gryffindor

Gryffindor was founded by Godric Gryffindor, who is considered one of the most brilliant wizards of his time. The Sorting Hat once belonged to him, who along with the rest of the founders of Hogwarts, enchanted the hat with their combined intelligence so it would sort all new students into their respective houses. Gryffindor's emblematic animal is a lion, and its colors are scarlet and gold, which fit with the traits associated with this house. The lion represents courage, regality, and power, and Gryffindor is known for being the house that values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry, which are some traits Godric Gryffindor himself valued most. Each Hogwarts house also represents one of the four elements, with Gryffindor corresponding to the element of fire, thus why it's represented by the colors scarlet and gold. Gryffindor has been home to some of the most notable wizards in history, such as Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black, Lily Evans, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter. Each Hogwarts house also has its own ghost, and in Gryffindor's case, it was the unforgettable Nearly Headless Nick.

Slytherin

The house of Slytherin was founded by Salazar Slytherin, one of the greatest wizards of the age and best known for being a parselmouth and a skilled Legilimens, but also for his radical ideas about Muggles and Muggle-born wizards. The traits that Salazar Slytherin valued most were ambition, leadership, self-preservation, cunning, and resourcefulness, which became the ones associated with the Slytherin house. Its symbol is a serpent, which represents resourcefulness and ambition, and its colors are green and silver. Slytherin represents the element of water, which appears behind the serpent in the house's crest. Due to his ideas against Muggles and Muggle-born students, Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts and never returned - however, he built the Chamber of Secrets, which concealed a basilisk, in hopes that his heir would return to the school and unleash the horror within the chamber so the basilisk would purge the school of those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic. The Bloody Baron is this house's ghost, and Slytherin saw the raise of many outstanding (though also dangerous) wizards and witches, such as Merlin (yes, that one), Letha Lestrange, Tom Riddle, Bellatrix Black, Draco Malfoy, and Severus Snape.

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw was founded by Rowena Ravenclaw, a witch noted for her intelligence and creativity. The house of Ravenclaw, just like Rowena, values intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, creativity and wit, and it corresponds to the element of air. Its emblematic animal is the eagle, representing intelligence and wisdom as it " soars where others cannot climb", and its colors are blue and bronze, with the element air present in the background of the house's crest. Among Ravenclaw's particularities is that, instead of giving a password, its students have to solve a riddle in order to enter the Ravenclaw common room. Ravenclaw's ghost is the Grey Lady, the ghost of Rowena's daughter, Helena, who was murdered by the Bloody Baron, who committed suicide once he realized what he had done. The most notable Ravenclaws are Filius Flitwick, Xenophilius Lovegood, Garrick Ollivander, Gilderoy Lockhart, Cho Chang, and Luna Lovegood.

Related: Harry Potter: Every Battle Of Hogwarts Death (& How They Fell)

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuff was founded by Helga Hufflepuff, who stood out from the rest of the founders of Hogwarts for accepting all students without preference, though there were obviously certain traits that she valued most, as were hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play. Hufflepuff's emblematic animal is the badger, which represents hard work, loyalty and tenacity, and this house corresponds to the element earth, which can be seen in the background of the house's crest in the shape of leaves, along with the colors yellow and black. The Fat Friar is the house's ghost, and the most notable Hufflepuffs in the history of the Wizarding World are Newt Scamander, Pomona Sprout, Nymphadora Tonks, and Cedric Diggory.

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Harry Potter: The Real Meaning Of Every Hogwarts House & Their Symbols

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The Harry Potter saga introduced the four Hogwarts houses, and here's what they represent and what their symbols really mean.

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Gambling in a game.

Regardless of how much I critique Genshin for its Gacha mechanics, I cannot help but enjoy the game. For media - books, games, shows - to be popular it has to be good at something. That said, Genshin is good at a lot of things: graphics, animation, character design, art style, environments, and progression. I, however, would still caution people to be wary of the predatory pay-to-win system. But given the lack of competition between players, you can complete the game without spending a single dime. Regardless of game ethics, one cannot deny the immense cultural impact of this game. The cultural impact is so visible that whenever there are cosplay events or bazaars, you will see this game everywhere.

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Gen Z, being exposed to constant content and entertainment, are prone to mental illness (Bonfills, 2022).

As opposed to previous generations who would have more direct ways of coping (eg. sports, clubbing, etc.) Gen Z makes fun of themselves. "You hate me? You ain't special because I hate myself too!" - this is something you would see on twitter. And as sensationalized as it is, it's often an exaggeration for feelings we all understand, like not being enough, or feeling neglected. However satirical this is, it only shows that Gen Z is unapologetically able to express vulnerability. In fact, we're the generation who treats mental illness the most seriously, and it's something I'm proud of.

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Deprecating Yourself to Viral Heights: Gen Z’s Muse on Social Media

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The fine line between humility and humiliation by Ananya S Rao, Strategy Associate

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Pinoy Teleseryes: The obsession with struggling

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Pinoy Teleseryes: The obsession with struggling

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In Filipino teleseryes, we see a lot of tragedy, in fact we see the protagonists struggling more than we see them successful. This struggle comes in numerous ways, but the most common ones include abuse, poverty, or living with an illness (Ong, 2015). In some ways, there is an argument that it almost sensationalizes these very real concepts, bringing up all sorts of ethical concerns. I, however, think that the intention is not to deliberately harm, but to be relatable. By presenting a struggling main character, the showrunners hope the viewers would empathize with the show. And with how popular these teleseryes are, I think their strategy works.

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The Poverty of Television | Anthem Press

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The Mediation of Suffering in Class-Divided Philippines

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Benitez, K. (2022). A Content Analysis of Queer Slang on Tik Tok.

Bonfils, M. (2022). The Effects of Social Media on Gen Zs’ Mental Health (Doctoral dissertation, School of Business, Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand).

Caivano, J. L. (1998). Color and semiotics: A two‐way street. Color Research & Application: Endorsed by Inter‐Society Color Council, The Colour Group (Great Britain), Canadian Society for Color, Color Science Association of Japan, Dutch Society for the Study of Color, The Swedish Colour Centre Foundation, Colour Society of Australia, Centre Français de la Couleur, 23(6), 390-401.

Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the individual. The Uses of Mass Communications: Current Perspectives on Gratifications Research, 19-32.

Ong, J. C. (2015). The poverty of television: The mediation of suffering in class-divided Philippines. Anthem Press.

Vandello, J. A., Goldschmied, N., & Michniewicz, K. (2016). Underdogs as heroes. In Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership (pp. 361-377). Routledge.

Rubin, A. M. (1983). Television uses and gratifications: The interactions of viewing patterns and motivations. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 27(1), 37-51.

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Teleseryes, Struggling, and Katz' theory

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Teleseryes, Struggling, and Katz' theory

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The experience of struggling is universal; it pervades race, class, religion, or attraction. It is something everyone experiences in their life, and though experiences vary, the same feeling of loss or helplessness is common feeling. In storytelling, it is easy to "root for the underdog", and research tells us the reason. It's because we identify with them (Vandello et. al., 2016). We root for the underdog because we know how it feels to be alienated, excluded, and underappreciated.

This same logic applies with teleseryes which lets us understand what makes them appealing. It does not - however - explain why they are so popular. To explain that, we must turn to the Uses and Gratification Theory. The theory explains that we seek out media that either agrees with us, diverts our attention, or represents us (Katz et. al., 1974). And teleseryes do just that: they divert our attention with their comical, conflict-filled stories, and make us feel represented through characters that always struggle - the underdogs.