Blog Post 7

For this next exploration of critical approaches, we will be exploring multiple perspectives, approaches, and texts in order to give you more options to how you approach the texts, which texts you approach, and from what angle you approach the texts. For this assignment, you will be asked to complete one blog post that addresses one of the new critical approaches (Feminist, Marxist) and one of the old critical approaches (Philosophical/Moral, Psychological) in conjunction with the film. We will be showing “The Social Network” in class over the next few days. Please write a 3-5 paragraph blog response regarding these approaches and texts.

In the Social Network women are portrayed with no respect at all. In the first few scenes you see Mark talking to his girlfriend with no respect and insulting her every chance he gets. He insults people every chance he gets so he can feel superior. In other scenes in the movie you see the male characters also treating girls with no respect. You see the character Sean Parker has over two girls and the whole scene you see them acting really drunk and smoking out of a bong, they're just laughing really stupidly and Sean just makes them drink more and smoke more like he's taking advantage of them.

In this movie another critical approach is the Marxist. Money is a big issue in this film. You see the two twins who have had money their entire life and have gotten whatever they've wanted finally not get anything they wanted. They ask Mark for help making a website that they have an idea on. They tell him that they can pay him to do it instead of them making it. Because if you have money why do any work?! So Mark takes their idea and creates the Facebook. This makes the twins quite angry because for once they didn't get what they wanted. There is a lot to do with money with if they should charge people to go on facebook or use advertisements and stuff like that. I like that money to Mark doesn't mean anything.

In this movie the Philosophical/Moral approach has a lot to do with Mark and his decision if he wants to do the right thing or if he just wants to go along with what he's doing and steal the twins idea. The moral in this story is do what you feel is important and do what you feel you can accomplish. Mark pays the consequence of stealing someones idea by getting sued. Then as time goes on he becomes a major jerk to his best and only friend cheating him out of the facebook so in the end Eduardo sues him too.  So in the end Mark pays for his bad decisions. This story is telling you that do what you feel you have to do and just be ready to pay the consequences of what happens later on.



 

Blog Post 8

Song lyrics, Otherside by Macklemore

The implied reader in these lyrics is saying how drugs and hip hop go hand in hand together. Rappers sing to their listeners about how they get high and run from the cops, but in the end it puts this idea into their listeners head that doing that is cool and if they want to be like their favorite rapper they too should be doing drugs and running from the cops. In this song it talks about how everyone at some point wants to be someone and do something but once they start taking drugs it becomes part of their life and all their dreams and hopes go out the window because now their dream is to just get more that drug they're on. Another main point the actual reader wants to enforce is the idea of overdose. One of the lyrics they say how he was sippin on his cup but he never got up. It's saying before you know it your drug use becomes an addiction and the next thing you know you're gone.

Actual reader in these lyrics for me it just shows you that doing drugs isn't everything. You don't need to do the same drugs as your favorite artist to feel cool like them. Doing drugs and letting them take over your life isn't cool, it isn't right. This song related to me as a friend of mine got addicted to Heroin last year. I can't tell you why she did it or why it took over her life but it did. She would always call me up asking me to borrow her large amounts of cash. I stopped talking to her because I knew that by giving her money I was just feeding her addiction. It really sucks going through that and turning your back on a friend. Every time I listen to this song I am always reminded of her because she was the first one to show me this song, but now it just is about her in a way. This song is real and is a rap song that is actually about something important. It isn't just about women, getting faded, or about running from the cops. I think everyone should listen to this song because it'll make you realize how dumb it is to just do something because you think it'll make you "cool".

I think that it is always important to think about the reader when you are reading something. What made them write this? Did they go through this? When you think about the reader it's easier to relate to them along with their work. There are plenty of books I've read were when I'm reading them I think to myself, "wow this completely goes along with how I'm feeling right now." Then I wonder to myself did the author go through this too? When you read something that relates to you no matter how bad you're feeling it's always a little comforting to know that someone out there has gone through what you're going through and lived through it.