TheorisT Today

Created, Edited, and Written By:Aspen FoxHeidi LacksJessica FornasierErica Schaller

->Health/Fitness Section -> Size Zero...Really?

By:Aspen Fox

->Entertainment Section -> Taken By: Heidi Lacks -> 2012, A Look At What’s to Come? By: Jessica Fornasier -> Ratings are In, Balloon Boy is a Hit

By: Jessica Fornasier

->World News Section -> Covering Up Reality

By: Erica Schaller

Table of ContentsNovember/December Issue

Page 1

Explanation of Magazine: Our group created a magazine that we believe would replicate a magazine created by the theorists we have learned about so far in CMC300. We took pop culture and news stories and wrote them through the eyes of specific theorists. The magazine represents a wide vari-ety of knowledge about the theorists. Being able to adapt current, cultural situations helped all of us apply theorists to things we read and see in the media. This gave us a better grasp on what the theorists are truly all about. Using more than one theorist creates a connection throughout the magazine. It really is as if theorists created a magazine together! This is our revised version. We incorporated the theorists more deeply into the articles, extended the articles, and added an additional one. This final product is about the length of a 9 page paper. We had a GREAT semester!

Size Zero...Really?By: Aspen FoxThrough the Eyes of: Baudrillard

From the time children are born, health and body image are one of the first things they hear discussed. “He’s a chubby little thing…Look at those fat cheeks…Is she eating enough…Is he eat-ing too much?” By the time kids become teenagers they are filled with ideas about health and body image that are both true and not true. Even when they know better, teens don’t always do what they should do to. Children learn to draw the hu-man body with a round head and a long stick like body. This is not a very realistic image, however, it is what teenager’s in our society view as the ideal. Models are always known to be a size “0.” What is a size zero? Doesn’t zero mean nothing? Girls aren’t and shouldn’t be invisible. Teenagers need to learn realistic expecta-tions of themselves, so they can lead hap-py, healthy, lives. “Does reality outstrip fiction?” (228) Has society really dissoci-ated itself from reality that we believe be-ing nonexistent is ok? Reality has become more fictional than real. Over the years in western cultures, studies have been done on the medical history of eating disorders

and it has shown that it has had a major rise in recent years. This shows that constant portrayal and simulation of a “typical” fashion model and movie start style, does have an effect on teens. All of these unrealistic ex-pectations lead to malnourished teens, which leads to unhealthy adults. If the body the body doesn’t have the proper nutrition during growth, it affects how the immune system reacts later on. Parents and teachers need to be careful what images they led teenagers to. What teens don’t realize is that it is possible to look like these models, movie stars, and rock stars but still be healthy. Thin is not a bad thing if the body has the proper exercise and nutrition it needs. Society does not need to see anymore simulacric images. They have no rela-tion to reality. Instead of just starving to death, teens should learn the importance of physical fitness, interactive activities, and proper nutrition. A recent poll of 313 members of a parent group asked the question, “Do you think fashion magazines affect girls’ body images,” 96.8% said yes and the other responses

were divided between no and they weren’t sure. This poll appears to be very true. Everyone is getting thinner and thinner. “The media are part of the event, they are part of the terror (229).” Media is causing people to have all these unrealistic and unhealthy goals. Choos-ing a healthy lifestyle and losing weight are difficult for teens and they need support. Without the support of families, governments, schools, and the MEDIA, teens will continue to starve themselves to death, just to look like a picture in a magazine or eat unhealthy, fatty, fast food that promote obesity and illness.

HEALTH and FITNESS

Page 2

Movie Review:Taken

By: Heidi LacksThrough the Eyes of: Zizek

ENTERTAINMENT

As parents we know that it is our responsibil-ity, as children get older to sit our children down and give them the “talk” about strang-ers and how you should never talk to them or give them your information. Children do not take these discussions seriously because they know that it will never happen to them or that they would never talk to some crazy looking man that looked suspicious. Howev-er little do we know that strangers that look and dress like “us” or who may come across to be nice, are not however the people that we should be talking to or giving information to. But how are we supposed to know? Not too long ago the movie, Taken came out

by Pierre Morel. In my opinion I believe that this movie was made not just for entertainment, but to make clear that sometimes people we talk to and give information out to, people who we think are “good people” are not. We really need to be more careful who we talk to and who we share information with because you never know. I believe that Taken was an eye opener for many people and really made people think, “shoot, this really could happen to me.” I think that the movie did a really good job picking the characters that they did because they were characters that looked like any nice, normal human be-ing who we as a society may look at and never expect to be a kidnapper. Our society makes certain stereotypes about kidnappers and rapist etc…that when something like this happens… it reinsures us that anyone out there can be dangerous and we have to be careful who we talk to and who we give our informa-tion out to because you just never know.

Through the spectacle of soci-ety we make our meaning based upon the things that we see. “Was not the framing of the shot itself reminiscent of spectacu-lar shots in catastrophe movie?” (231) We watch these kind of movies because we do not think that it will ever happen to us, and when it does we are blown away because we only think of these kind of things as things that would happen in Hollywood movies. Through the images that we see in Hollywood movies are the things that are going to be carried on from generation to generation. The movie does a really good job reinsuring to us virtual reality and what it is. This movie appears to have been made for the purpose of showing people that these kinds of things can happen to anyone and we need to be cautious who we give infor-mation to. Hollywood created this movie, which gives me the impression that people will walk away from viewing it knowing and understanding more then before they walked into the theatre.

Movie Review:2012, A Look At What’s to Come?By: Jessica FornasierThrough the Eyes of: Zizek

It seems Hollywood has done it again with their explosive digital effects and catastro-phe driven plot lines. Roland Emmerich’s 2012 is nothing short of disastrous as audiences watch as a global cataclysm occurs that threatens to wipe out the entire face of the earth. John Cusack’s character, Jackson Curtis, however fights to ensure that not all humankind is destroyed. It is the quintessential equation for an action movie of today; destruction of historical landmarks, action sequences that defy al human capabilities, and a little tinge of romance to help maintain some kind of plot line. This is not Emmerich’s first try at this sort of movie ideal; its predecessors such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow follow the same kind of “end of the world”, explosions left and right, formula that seems to keep audienc-es coming back for more. But why? Why is it that we enjoy this spectacle of seeing the world as we know it destroyed by forces out of our control? What is it about the camera shots of familiar buildings being destroyed by fire put us at the edge of our seats begging for more? I find it ironic that we exalt the director’s framing of the destruction of a building, but when such an event happen in real life, can-

not stand watch even a poor glimpse of the catastrophe. Is this reality not what we want? The American public was faced with this question when the WTC towers were destroyed when airplanes crashed into them. Were not these shots reminiscent of those seen in some of Emmerich’s biggest films? And yet we were not able to stomach the real images of the carnage of the attacks, though they are repeated again in again in films such as 2012. But why would such an event come as a surprise when the premise of the Hollywood disaster movie, the unthinkable which happened, is the object of the fantasy, so that, in a way with September 11, American got what is fantasized about (233). Is this the biggest surprise of all (233)? It’s almost as if Emmerich’s films have given us a glimpse at the future, a peek at the spectacle to come, that we enjoy at the time but then repress and censor when it comes to play. Shall America then brace itself for 2012, waiting for the spectacle to occur and then simply ask ourselves, where have we seen this before? Or are these films simply following with the hegemony of the dominant ruling classes attempting to keep us in the “false consciousness” of living in fear, particularly of our world’s end? Ideology is false consciousness, so perhaps Emmerich is just function-ing as a pawn to the dominant classes with their political agenda as the lead-

ing lady. Perhaps films such as 2012 that speak of the world’s end because of forces out of our control only help to promote the ideology that we need to regulate those factors of our existence that can be in our control before they too bring the world to a disastrous end. The function of fear in motivating the masses is a classic strategy used by our political systems in order to establish the rules that they want. Is 2012 therefore an extension of their hegemonic ideals? A means perhaps for the dominant powers to “take over” the Real that is so often contaminated by their hegemony? Do not take me to be the toughest critic of them all; the technological advancements seen by the special effects in this film are excellent and worthy of praise. But I urge the common viewer to challenge his or herself with this film and take more away than just a ticket stub. Consider the ideolo-gies at play and become critical of the media that you passively consume. Then maybe we can begin to take back the Real, to periodically purge the Real that they contaminate each day, one film at a time.

This Week on TV:Ratings are In, Balloon Boy is a HitBy: Jessica FornasierThrough the Eyes of: Horkheimer and AdornoThe numbers show that the two-hour time span in which the “Balloon Boy” soared through the air on October 15th brought in some of the biggest audiences. The attention it grabbed continued to show as news coverage and specials were run on various channels for up to two weeks after the incident actually took place. It seemed the result that young Falcon’s father desired was yielding as culture consumed this story and the scandal that surrounded it. It’s not that it was an extremely captivating story, no hero could be named, and in the end the only tragedy was sim-ply that the spectacle America tuned into for two hours to watch a carefully crafted hoax. At first audiences could not get enough of the scandal and tuned in to the specials that were featured days following the event. Then it seemed that the prank was getting too much attention as it continued to be brought up in the media. But we

as consumers should not be surprised at this unified content of “Balloon Boy”. Balloon Boy brought in the numbers and that’s all the networks are truly looking for. In this way the structures of the mass media are easily revealed; the truth that they are noth-ing but business looking for profit is used as in ideology to legitimize the trash they intentionally produce (42). The individual is wholly devalued in relation to economic powers (14). Though this is extremely trou-bling, nothing is more frightening than the fact that the whole world is passed through the culture industry (45). And in truth, the culture industry is corrupt, not because it is a sinful Babylon; but because it is a cathedral dedicated to elevated pleasure (40). Pleasing the audiences and getting the numbers is more important to the culture industry than intellectualism, than producing material that would be of substance and would benefit the public sphere. Bringing this issue to light is not a meager attempt to turn the masses on the media but rather efforts to explain why humanity, instead of entering a truly human state, is sinking into barbarism

(Stanford University Press). Media and culture function upon the amusement factor, so goes the saying “if it bleeds it leads”. Therefore instead of challenging intellectualism, media turns to cheap entertainment that is easy to produce and reproduce. We, the public, passively consume these spectacles and eventually find them so allur-ing that we only want more. We thrive off of the drama and scandal that they feed us and continu-ally challenge their creativity in giving us the best trash they can find. So explains the repetition of images of Balloon Boy and the entire media event that was built around it. It got the attention as audiences tuned in to see the fate of the young boy supposedly trapped inside the contraption. It became a part of the culture industry and was commodified in order to be sold to audiences across the nation. And according to recent figures, this season it was the hottest item sold.

ENTERTAINMENT

Page 3

Covering Up Reality“For Eigth-Grader, head scarf is badge of faith, burden”By: Erica SchallerThrough the Eyes of: BaudrillardArticle Adopted From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/sto-ry/2009/11/13/ST2009111301581.html?sid=ST2009111301581

If you hide a part of you, does that mean it doesn’t exist in reality? And if you pretend to be something that you aren’t, does that make it true? Or does reality actually outstrip fiction? For Smar Abugala, 13, this is something that she has struggled with for years. Like most other teenagers, Smar just wants to fit in at her Reston middle school. But one thing that she feels sets her apart is her culture. Smar is a Muslim; a religious minority in a country that sometimes associates her faith with terrorism and acts of violence. Until now, Smar has chosen not to wear her traditional head scarf (Hijab) to school for fear of the other student’s reactions. By doing this, she hoped that she could mask the reality of her heritage along with the stigmas that come with it following Sept. 11, 2001. She wanted to dissimulate herself from the Muslim culture and pretend to not be part of something that, in reality, is a huge part of her life. In the successive phases of the procession of simulacra, Smar’s actions represent the second phase of masking and denaturing reality. This year, Smar has chosen to embrace the reality of being Muslim and break free from the procession of simulacra. The first step towards this is wearing her head scarf to school. Last year, on the first day of school, she wore black skinny jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt with her hair in braids; a look that very much simulates the “Ameri-can” teenager. This year, her look will set her apart from most girls at her school. Smar is trying to find a balance between her two realities; Muslim and American. She was born in Sudan and her parents brought her to the United States when she was 3 months old. Her faith is a central part of her life. She

attends Saturday Islam classes at her family’s mosque, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), and she follows all the requirements for fast-ing and praying. Along with her goal to go to Mecca one day, she also has future thoughts of prom, college, and marriage. She loves the Jonas Broth-ers and the famed Twilight books. And looking through her Facebook pictures, she simulates a typical, scarfless, American teenager. Smar began to embrace her Muslim culture this past sum-mer when she went on a family trip to Egypt. She noticed that all the women in Egypt wore head-scarves, and for the first time, she felt left out for showing her loose shoulder-length dark hair. When her aunt, who lives in Cairo, showed her all different styles and ways of wearing scarves, Smar decided to try wearing a head scarf. She returned from her trip in early September with a new collec-tion of colorful scarves and a new attitude on reality. By now, she had grown used to wearing what she calls “my badge of faith” and she approached the new school year “modest and confident at the same time.” Smar’s friends are first apprehensive about her wearing the head scarf. Some call her a lep-rechaun in her green scarf and others say she looks like a snake charmer. But the teasing was in an affectionate friendly manner. Some of her friends even told her she looked great. It is not until the second week of school that Smar starts to face the taunting of her reality. One boy asks of she is hiding a bomb under her scarf while another calls her “raghead”. She has several things thrown at her, from a pencil to a zuc-

chini.“It’s the thought that no one did that to me last year that bothers me,” she says. “I don’t care if it’s a feather or a 50-pound rock; I don’t care. No one did this to me last year, and last year I didn’t have a head scarf.” Smar contemplates taking off her head scarf. Taking the scarf off would give her momentary relief from the harassment. “But I know that I’m not going to,” Smar says. “I know who I am and I know who I always will be.” Smar has learned that reality does, in fact, outstrip fiction and mask-ing her reality of being Muslim does not change who she is; she no longer wants to dissimulate herself from her Muslim reality. While the other students may have bought into her false reality of being a typical American teenager that Smar portrayed in previous years, she could no longer feign this as her only re-ality. She is now proud to represent both of her realities as a Muslim-American teenager.

WORLD NEWS

Page 4