Justin+Mao+Journal+Entries

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Entry 1



"We change our technology, and then they shape us". This was the famous quote on Media once said by Marshall McLuhan a guru on all things media, years before it was a relevant topic. Media is every where I go; there isn't one second of my life when I am not constantly being drowned in a wave of media. When I walk down the street to school, all I see are billboards and advertisements covering every surface that the corporate minds could find. My everyday life is now revolving around what the media says is good and bad. The things I wear are all based on what my friends wear and what the media is saying it the "newest" trend. The shows I watch are based on what the media says is the next best thing. The events I go to are the ones that are the "hottest" at the moment. For example, this year especially TIFF (Toronto international film festival) got really big. Before I never really paid attention to it or even had an afterthought of attending it. However after all the publicity and news coverage it got this year, I went not once, but twice with my friends. It's like my life is being dictated by the media.

Entry 2



For those who have not watched the movie Peep Diaries, click here to watch

Peep culture. Everybody knows how to use it, what does it really mean? Definition: a culture of mass voyeurism in which we get more and more of our kicks from peeping in on the entertaining foibles of the real lives of others; at the same time, we become more and more amenable to others peeping in on our lives. (excerpted from [] ) Why do we find such enjoyment in peeping on the lives of others? Many people update their statuses on Twitter and Facebook almost for every small aspect of their lives: where they are, what they are doing, what they are wearing, etc… People subconsciously want others to notice them and in turn (comment) make them feel better about their lives; knowing the fact that other people are thinking about them. I believe that by being noticed on the internet, they subconsciously feel better about their real lives and try to mask the problems in their real lives with Facebook and try to hide behind this smokescreen where you can only show people what you want.

Entry 3

Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the ideas, attitudes, and perspectives and other phenomena that are deemed trending based on a general consensus within the mainstream of our society any give culture. I think that the biggest aspect of pop culture that affects me is fashion. I am always on blogsites and online stores looking for the newest trend and trying to get on top of the curve. Though it is not true with me, a lot of people buy expensive clothing to maintain a status, but is having a status through an expensive outer layer really a good thing? Most of the time, it is because there isn't much underneither the $600 jacket, so they have to cover it up with expensive articles of clothing. For me it is a way of expressing myself; however subconsciencly it is more than that. It is a way of satisfying my needs and wants to be seen by society. My subconscience thinks that by wearing the latest brands and styles, I will be noticed by my fellow peers and friends henceforth making me feel happy about the way people perceive me.

What's Pop Culture?

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Entry 4

Many people may have heard of a celebrity called Kim Kardashian, but if one thinks hard, what can you think of that she actualy does? That's what I thought, nothing. Let's explore how she really did get famous. It all started when she got married when she was 19 and her father cut her off financially. Subsequently she started a business called Kim's Closet where she would re-do or creat exclusive closests for celebrities that she knew from her dad. Her name was passed on from celebrity to celebrity until ultimately her business became popular in the celebrity circles. (however I'm pretty sure know one has ever heard of this part of the story.) It was through this that she met Paris Hilton where she really did begin to surface. Kim would go out with Paris to clubs and events, and everyone (the media) went crazy over. Then finally the final push to stardom was her sex tape with the R&B singer Ray J. (when he was still 'hot'). After hearing this it really lets one think, what really are our celebrities consitied of these days? Can anyone with a pretty face become a "star" as long as they have the connections and a bit of money?

Do YOU want to Keep up with the Kardashians? Well you can catch their reality tv show Keeping Up WIth the Kardashians: media type="youtube" key="P-pYsWNtAQM" height="315" width="560"

Entry 5

RIM. Risk Incomplete Messages. That really should be what RIM (Research In Motion) stand for these days. After THREE days of blotchy usage of their BIS (Blackberry Internet Server) and the main problem of messages not sending, RIM has been in the talk of selling patents to their Blackberry devices in order to keep the company a float. Why did this once glorious company and the pride of Canada have to resort to such crude solutions to keep their company alive? Oh, god forbid that one does can not send BBM's to their friends for 72 hours, we must all stop using their phones that have been the coporate man's bestfriend for 10 years now. Or is the //real// problem in us? I believe that in the year 2011 we are too indulged into our personal electronic devices and don’t know how else to function without them. Not only do we depend on these devices, we form our lives around them. Instead of basing myself around dinner with my family, I base my dinner time around when my TV show is not on. I think that we must all take a step back and see how much our lives are being impacted by media, and/or how much our lives are revolving around the media, like a shadow always with us.



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