The Un-TV Experiment...

When Sal first announced the Un-TV Experiment, I was excited at first, but then I thought to myself, "What am I going to learn from this? What am I going to get out of watching a blank TV screen?" Well at the end of the experiment I answered those 2 questions. From the video in class on how TV is changing the world for young kids. The TV makes us feel connected to one another, take American Idol for example. If some of your friends watch it, to have something in common or something to talk about, you watch American Idol for that reason. So you sit there, just staring at the screen, feeling connected to society, when really we aren't.

Now children at younger and younger ages are being targeted by marketers. From toys to food, it never ends. Children are the driving force in profit for businesses and that's why children now are learning to watch TV before they even read. While I did the Un-TV Experiment, I realized the answer to my questions. Learning that the televison basically controls us humans. From knowing exactly what time our TV show is on makes us like robots. Also, almost always having the television on in your house is like the lesson about Silence. We need to fill the air with noise because we are uncomfortable with silence. Watching a blank TV screen is just what your doing when you are actually watching the television. You are so zoned in that you aren't even paying attention. From the fade-ins to the cut scenes, it doesn't bother you, but when you are paying attention and are counting the cut scenes and zoom-ins you get a headache and maybe have to leave the room. Not everyone knows it, but the television basically controls us.

The Thought of Nothing...

When I did the nothing project I decided to go to a well populated area. Target. Before going I thought how people would react of me just standing there in the middle of an isle, doing nothing. Maybe someone would talk to me, ask if I'm okay or ask me to move out of their way. Maybe nothing would happen. Once I found my 'nothing spot' I went between the most populated section I could find. I started the time and left the rest up in the air. People started to pass by, not noticing me. 5 minutes pass and I feel like I might not be doing nothing. I pick a sign to stare at so I don't look at anyone's faces or clothes to almost judge the person and think to myself, "Do they think I'm weird just by standing here?" Then I realized I was doing something. Staring and Thinking. It really is hard to DO NOTHING. When you first hear the assignment of doing nothing, you think that it is the easiest assingment ever, then realize once you do it or in the middle of it that it really is hard. I feel like doing nothing could almost be impossible. We are so caught up in time and thoughts that we have no time to clear our minds. After some people have passed, I realized that this lady kept passing by me. She looked at where I was looking and walked by slowly with her cart. Maybe she would have done something, but she never came back after 2 times. I was really hoping someone would take action and do something, but that's how we are, we go to get things done.

Dependency...

In the movie, Tuesdays With Morrie, there is a sense of dependency on others or on one another when it comes to the main character Mitch. He is always so caught up in work; he doesn't have enough time to live a 'real life.' By never having time with his girlfriend to not even keeping in touch with his past friends, take Morrie for example, Mitch said he would keep in touch with Morrie after college while in the end there wasn't any contact until Mitch saw Morrie, his old college professor, on the T.V. in a special on Lou Gehrig’s disease, showing that he was dying.

Americans generally believe the ideal person is self-reliant. Most Americans see themselves as separate individuals, not as representatives of a family, community or other group. They don’t like being reliant on other people, or having others depend on them. Some people say this is a trait of selfishness.  Dependency is related to our value of both independence and freedom. Independence because a lot of people don't like having people depend on them because what if they slip up or make a mistake, that could ruin a relationship with the other person. Some people like to stay by themselves being individualistic, either by just looking out for themselves or like to do things by themselves. Having others see it as a freedom from the constraints of family or social class.
I see myself dependent on others in some ways. Maybe by working in a group or partner project depending on the other to do/finish his or her work on time so we both don't get penalized. Or maybe being dependent on the other person on keeping a secret that I told them, knowing that I can trust them not telling anyone from a long time relationship. It doesn't bother me so much to the point that I can't stand it and have to be individualistic. I'm not going to isolate myself from others; it just bothers me when say there was a group project when the other(s) let you down. You are dependent for a reason. Whether it's freedom, individualism, or just to be so.

Subcultures...

In class how we discussed different subcultures based on our school for an example really got me thinking how different we really are. I thought the language, mores, and folkways really played the biggest factor into making our school more different than others. With some of our language, (LOP, New and Old Building, Traveler, The Link, LC or RC) our mores, (fighting, walking on the right side of the halls and stairwells, not stopping in the middle of the halls- these actions violate the norms) and our folkways (being tardy to class, not wearing school colors on spirit days, not having food or drink in class- norms that are often not followed without trouble in the school's subculture) brought to my attention really opened up my eyes to see that our school is totally different in a ton of ways. I see how other schools or other people who come here think that our school is 'rich and huge' but honestly it's not that different. Yes we do have a lot of opportunites given to us but that doesn't mean everyone uses it to their advantage. There a TON of clubs and sports at our school that I know a lot of other schools don't have and some people don't even bother to simply join a club that they could or are interested in. Our language, mores, and folkways really do shape us here because you see mostly everyone use our 'school language' either in the halls or in class, our mores by seeing people standing in halls talking to friends, and our folkways by seeing people having food or a drink in class. I am a part of sports subculture and a fine arts subculture. I think that the unique part of my subcultures are that it's not just school sports or fine arts, it's also out of school.