Too Cool for School

I definitely think that people around me are strongly influenced by the media standard of "cool," however, I would also argue that I am surrounded by people who do not allow the media standard of "cool" to shape their lives nearly as much. I notice that people are very strongly influenced by the media standard of cool in the area of technology, particularly with cell phones. It literally seems like every week a new version of a cell phone comes out claiming that it is different from all the rest, and it almost degrades other brands to a lower standard. Eventually, a new phone will come out that will top this one and it will be "the cool phone," while the others will be considered old and out of style. It is exactly the same as Ipods. In my opinion, Ipods are like humans. They started out simple and evolved into something so complex. At first, the only thing Ipods could do was play music and everyone thought that was the greatest thing ever, and now, Ipods are a phone, music player, camera, internet source, and more all in one. The human brain used to have such a small capacity that survival insticts were the only concept they could grasp. And millions of years later, what humans are capable of is absolutely mindboggling. The difference between humans and Ipods is that Ipods evolved with excessive velocity. People are also strongly influenced by the media's standard of "cool fasion." Say the geekiest kid in school comes to class one day wearing short shorts with thick rubber boots that come up past the knee. Everyone will torment her. But if Kesha comes out wearing that everyone will see it as a revolution in fashion and it will become a popular trend, because the media follows Kesha, and Kesha is famous. The media's standard of "cool" is apparently to be a drunken slut, and I am not sure if it has always been that way but it definitely is today and it is so influential on teenagers. Kids as young as twelve are acting totally inappropriately because that is what their role models are doing. And it is all because the media is potraying that behaviour to be cool. But on the other hand, I believe I know people who are true to themselves and do not allow the media to control their decisions nearly so much. Some people will just wear what would be considered the most ugly outfit of all time out in public because it is what they are comfortable with, and they do not care if the media doesn't like it because it works for them. I think people like that are stronger than everyone else, because the only real way to be different is to truly not care what other people think. There are less people like that out there than most people are aware of, especially with teenagers. Because with teenagers, often one of the most important things is to meet the media's standard of "cool."

Lady Gaga: The Perplexing Package

Lady Gaga is an example of both a performance artist and a pop star, despite the the fact that these are usually opposites of one another. A pop star is simply defined as a person who "performs popular music." Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, and Miley Cyrus are pop stars along with Lady Gaga. Songs such as One time, Womanizer, Party in the U.S.A, and Poker Face appeal to a large demographic, which is the reason these artists are pop stars. In my opinion, becoming a pop star is much easier than becoming a performance artist. With youtube, all a person has to do is sing a catchy song with an appealing haircut and they have a decent chance of getting a record contract. As long as Britney Spears stays pretty, has a few mental breakdowns, and edits her voice so that she barely sounds human, she will stay reasonably famous. Miley Cyrus has her dad to thank for her fame. Notice how the Jonas Brothers have fizzled out while Miley has stuck around. I think this is because she has a famous parent while the Jonas Brothers come from a family of ordinary people. Lady Gaga is a pop star who became famous after her hit song Just Dance came out a couple of years ago, before anyone even knew how eccentric she was. Now, I would argue that she is 35% famous for her music and 65% famous for her performance art. She knows that if she does crazy wild things, she will get attention. I still do not think that it is all an act, because Lady Gaga does seem to be a reasonably bizzare person. Or at least she isn't someone who marches to the same drum as everyone else. Lady Gaga wears dresses made of meat, ends her shows with her own suicide as part of the act, has fire and sparks shooting out of her breasts, and shows up to the Grammys in a giant egg. This is why she is a performance artist and a genius. But she is also a Pop star because she sings pop songs while doing all of these strange, unimaginable things.

The Invisible Force

The media is so incredibly influential because it has the power to immediately alter one's outlook and decisions even without one's slightest recognition that such changes are occurring. The media is deeply psychological , and perhaps even dangerous because it simply cannot be escaped. One of the main problems that the media creates is that it tarnishes developing identities by targeting those who are most vulnerable: the adolescence. Currently, this has presented a major issue among young females because the media has convinced them that the ideal image is essentially promiscuous. Honestly, how many music videos have been produced where a celebrity such as Kesha or Britney Spears dances half naked around a night club completely intoxicated while rubbing against various different men? The party animal image is unbelievably popular in our society, and it is potentially out of control because it results in young girls wearing barely enough material to cover their backsides. The media also has the ability to convince teenage boys that their purpose is to have sexual relationships with as many girls as possible because that classifies them as "cool." Listen to song lyrics and I guarantee you will hear a rapper stating that " they are gonna make love in da club." Even Enrique Iglesias will no longer make a music video where he has a romantic picnic and then goes horseback riding with his girlfriend. Instead, he will be getting intimate in some sketchy place with a woman he's never met. It's pretty clear that sex holds major importance in today's popular culture, and it's all because the media and the celebrities that promote it. So how can we expect people to shape their own identities? The answer is, we can't. Unfortunately, that is the media's job.