Extra Blog: Harold and Kumar (Wasn't graded before)

This blog post is a rant and rave about the upcoming release of yet another movie based on the adventures of Harold and Kumar in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. Watching an interview of John Cho, who stars as Harold, reminded me of what is so great about the Harold and Kumar films.  If anyone has seen these movies they would be aware of the absolutely ridiculous situations the duo get into, which usually involves drugs, sex, and sometimes a cheetah.  While these storylines are ridiculous the plots sometimes bring attention to issues within our culture in hilarious and offensive ways, which may even help get the point across.

            While the movie clearly puts the two protagonists into crazy and beyond believe situations, it not only adds a tremendous amount of hilarity, but the films also show the absurdity of our own country.  For instance in the second movie, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, there are scenes which in a very hilarious and not exactly a politically correct, but the filmmakers were striving to bring to attention the mistreatment of prisoners within Guantanamo Bay.  I think that one of the strong points for these movies is that they bring to light some of the political issues within the country.  For instance in the next film there are scenes filled with Occupy Wallstreet protesters.  I only imagine what hilarity the filmmakers can bring into the sad state of our current economy. 

            The Films don’t only focus on political issues within the country, but they also illustrate the ethnic diversity of our nation.  This is sometimes done in very racist and prejudiced ways, but it serves as a reminder to audiences to not take stereotypes about ethnic groups seriously.  Multiple times throughout these movies the audience is reminded of the greatness of our nation. Even though like, Harold and Kumar, we may get lost at times America will always eventually find its way to its destination.  However, the trip there may not be smooth sailing or necessarily the correct way of going about solving the issues at hand. 

            I look forward to the absurd plotline that the third installment is sure to boast.  I hope to have a great time laughing at Neil Patrick Harris being crazy, Kumar’s wild plans, Harold attempting to resolve the situation, and the backwards and hysterical views of the world surrounding them, when the movie is released this Friday.

 

Smart Mobs, more than just Political Movements

            In this weeks reading we took a look at the beginning of a phenomenon called “smart mobs” coined by Howard Rheingold. These mobs are able to coordinate quickly to participate in anything from political protests to meeting new people on the street.  The increased availability of mobile phones and the power of the technology allows for new ways for people to interact with each other.  While some of these smart mobs result in harmful situations, many of the mobs now are being coordinated for enjoyable activities. 

            When examining smart mobs Rheingold saw that some of the technology was being used for violence but he also noted that, “any observer who focuses exclusively on the potential for violence would miss evidence of perhaps an even more profoundly disruptive potential— for beneficial as well as malign purposes—of smart mob technologies and techniques.”  Rheingold realized that the technology used by the military when he was writing the book would become more accessible to the public and we are currently seeing these ideas becoming a reality. Techniques such as “swarming” arose from the ability for people to instantly communicate through social media and text messaging which allows for people to organize and cooperate more quickly than ever before.

            For instance the organization Improv Everywhere sets up missions on their Facebook and Twitter pages.  These events , which are being called flash mobs, are usually pranks of silly nature such as riding the New York Subway without pants.  However, others are just fun ideas.  One of these smart mobs was coordinated through Facebook and text messaging telling people to download an mp3 file, and where to meet in New York City.  This message was spread through the networks and eventually the gathering grew to thousands of people.  At 8:30p.m. people were told to start listening to the downloaded mp3, this lead to an awesome spectacle of group participation. The video shows the “swarming” technique as people move quickly and converge on a single area once the idea is spread to the group.  This organization of people was caused by using cell phones and social networks to spread the word showing how Rheingold was right in his ideas. Smart mob technologies and techniques are being used to benefit the group rather than cause violence or protests. The ability for massive amounts of strangers to coordinate such an effort points to the power of smart mob technologies. It will be interesting to see how the ability for large amounts of people to seamlessly connect with one and other will further impact our world.

Cyberbullying, when does bullying become discrimination

            In this weeks reading we examined some unfortunate stories that took place-involving cyberbullying.  Unfortunately, many of these cases take place with kids in their tweens who have not developed the self-esteem to handle ridicule broadcasted on social networks.  Danah Boyd’s research claims that it is difficult for teenagers, “To recognize oneself as a victim — or perpetrator — requires serious emotional, psychological and social support.” However, while this research may work well in the ages of middle and high school, how does it translate into an adult world?  Cyberbullying can evolve from teenage “drama” and at a later age become an invasion of private life and lead to discrimination.

            The tragic story of Tyler Clementi shows the worst that cyberbullying has to offer. Instead of being some meaningless teenage “drama” Clementi’s privacy and freedom were stolen from him, when his roommate streamed online a sexual encounter of Clementi and another male student.  Because the Internet connects information to so many people the stream would have been able to be seen by multiple people.  This may have played into Clementi’s decision to jump to his death.  If Clementi had chosen to be labeled as a victim in the situation it varies greatly in a college situation as compared to high school.  Instead of just being harassed and called names Clementi’s personal life was brought to the forefront on the digital realm.  Had he sought help Clementi may have had a hard time to admit that he was being bullied as an adult, it would have required support that few universities in the nation are well equipped to provide.

            Much like Clementi, Chris Armstrong, president of Michigan Student Assembly, was being harassed online due to his sexual orientation, however the bully wasn’t another student, but an adult.  That adult was assistant Michigan Attorney General Andrew Shrivell who had been releasing blog posts claiming that Armstrong was a gay Nazi and was participating in gay orgy parties in his dorm room.  Armstrong was fortunate and never had to seek support to getting the bullying to stop, had he have had to search for support it may have lead to a mental toll on the student.  Armstrong had many defendants without even asking for it as angry citizens posted frustrated messages about the discrimination of the student on Shirvell’s blog. Shirvell partakes in an interview shown on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, to make claims that he is the one that is being cyberbullied due to the harassment from the public, and that he is in the clear to say what he wants about Armstrong.  What ensues is a classic scene of someone in over their heads.  While this story may be ridiculous it does bring to attention the issues with cyberbullying, and how acceptance of being a bully, is as difficult for a 30-year-old man as it is for a teenager.  If he were able to accept how he is acting as being discriminatory to another individual perhaps he would be able to change his actions and possibly develop respect toward another human being.

           

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Extra Blog: Another Harold and Kumar Adventure

This blog post is a rant and rave about the upcoming release of yet another movie based on the adventures of Harold and Kumar in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. Watching an interview of John Cho, who stars as Harold, reminded me of what is so great about the Harold and Kumar films.  If anyone has seen these movies they would be aware of the absolutely ridiculous situations the duo get into, which usually involves drugs, sex, and sometimes a cheetah.  While these storylines are ridiculous the plots sometimes bring attention to issues within our culture in hilarious and offensive ways, which may even help get the point across.

            While the movie clearly puts the two protagonists into crazy and beyond believe situations, it not only adds a tremendous amount of hilarity, but the films also show the absurdity of our own country.  For instance in the second movie, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, there are scenes which in a very hilarious and not exactly a politically correct, but the filmmakers were striving to bring to attention the mistreatment of prisoners within Guantanamo Bay.  I think that one of the strong points for these movies is that they bring to light some of the political issues within the country.  For instance in the next film there are scenes filled with Occupy Wallstreet protesters.  I only imagine what hilarity the filmmakers can bring into the sad state of our current economy. 

            The Films don’t only focus on political issues within the country, but they also illustrate the ethnic diversity of our nation.  This is sometimes done in very racist and prejudiced ways, but it serves as a reminder to audiences to not take stereotypes about ethnic groups seriously.  Multiple times throughout these movies the audience is reminded of the greatness of our nation. Even though like, Harold and Kumar, we may get lost at times America will always eventually find its way to its destination.  However, the trip there may not be smooth sailing or necessarily the correct way of going about solving the issues at hand. 

            I look forward to the absurd plotline that the third installment is sure to boast.  I hope to have a great time laughing at Neil Patrick Harris being crazy, Kumar’s wild plans, Harold attempting to resolve the situation, and the backwards and hysterical views of the world surrounding them, when the movie is released this Friday.

Extra Blog 1: Avatar Franchise

This extra blog post is based on what we have learned about convergence culture.  In particular how films look to create not only a great movie, but also an entire world that can be fleshed out into a Franchise.  Films can expand into other forms of media including books, games, comics, and even theme parks.  A great example in an article that I stumbled upon the other day is James Cameron and the expanding Avatar franchise and the possibilities of the changing media of 3D television.

            In the article Cameron argues that eventually 3D will be as commonplace across every media platform as color television is today.  He sees the industry as resisting the new technology and equates it to the fear of changing from black and white to color tv in the past.  I think that this is going to be an awesome advancement once the technology really allows games, movies, and television to become more immersive for the viewers. 

            While 3D will take some time to catch hold Cameron looks to expand Avatar into other forms of media.  Currently he is writing an Avatar book, modeling a theme park, and hoping to expand Avatar games into the MMO realm.  Cameron expresses his approval of such a game, but it would make more sense after the next two movie releases.  His reasoning is that Avatar was just a jumping point into a new world with multiple alien races living on the planet and within the planetary system. Cameron’s scope of what he is hoping to deliver allows for a potentially massive Avatar franchise, which in turn will lead to fan participation in the MMO and potentially fan fiction.  Being a fan of the first film I look forward to an expanded story with its own mythology. This can improve on the clichéd storyline of the first film, which relied heavily on some fantastic eye candy for its appeal. Instead the expansion of the Avatar Universe can lead to a more compelling and layered story for fans of the franchise and can incorporate fans that use other media such as games into the fold. 

Googlization Self Control Delete

            In this weeks reading of Googlization of Everything, author Siva Vaidhynathan explores the issues surrounding the amount of control Google has on the Internet.  Vaidhynathan shows that Google’s settings allow for a massive collection and documentation of data throughout the Internet.  This can lead to an issue of people’s privacy in the digital realm.  Google can store harmful information of people allowing strangers to access it at any time.  As Vaidhynathan argues, “Google always gives the victim of exposure the opportunity to remove troubling information from Google’s collection.  But the system is designed to favor maximum collection, maximum exposure, and the permanent availability of everything.”

            The dangers with Google arise from our desire to share and create material on the Internet.  Google makes copies and files this information away in its database for anyone on the Internet to interact with.   Google claims that these databases are collected to help spread information, but in reality all of our activities that we enjoy are being stored each time we search, leading to an invasion of our privacy without our consent.   The extent of the information available is compounded due to how many features Google offers, but Google doesn’t keep a close filter on the content being displayed.  Their privacy policy is very weak with the majority of the privacy efforts being placed on the users to manage what is put online.

The Colbert Report
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            Stephen Colbert took a stab at the invasion of privacy that flourishes on Google.  In his witty take on the matter Stephen brings about many points that are eye opening to the general public.  He shows that the information placed on Google is invasive and costly for people looking to enter the workplace since there may be inappropriate pictures posted online.  Imagine Googling your name only to find drunken Facebook pictures.  This is one of the concerns, that Stephen points out, because Google now uses a feature to scan unlabeled online photos and match them based on facial recognition. This allows for any type of photo to be loaded into the search engine for anyone to see.  On top of this Stephen shows how Gmail tracks our friends and family as well making it even easier for companies to do some digging to find information out about us.  Clearly this upholds Vaidhynathan’s argument of the invasion of our privacy and shows how Google is looking to gather and collect information for its own financial gain.  Unfortunately, inappropriate images can easily be placed online with essentially no protection from the company. As CEO Eric Schmidt states, “ If you have something that you don’t want someone to know maybe you shouldn’t do it in the first place.”  This is a lazy approach of protecting the users who are essentially the product of the company. Since some of the content may be posted without our own permission, Google’s blind eye approach leads to a surveillance of nearly everything in our lives.  This will only increase with time and technology as things become more and more advanced our protection of our rights may become weaker and weaker. 

The Absurdity of Piracy

            This weeks reading involved the issue of piracy in the digital age.  In Lawrence Lessig’s book Free Culture he delves into the issue of culture is formed by commercial and noncommercial means. Lessig points out that noncommercial culture has an impact on how the culture is formed and progresses.  He states that, “the ordinary ways in which ordinary individuals shared and transformed their culture—telling stories, reenacting scenes from plays or TV, participating in fan clubs, sharing music, making tapes—were left alone by the law.” Lessig sees that our very culture may be threatened due to, “This rough divide between the free and the controlled has now been erased.”

            Lessig fears that the newly established permission culture threatens to undermine “the right to build freely upon their past.”  This as a result threatens to take away the creativity of our culture, and the past times that the people enjoy. The inability to separate the commercial from the noncommercial acts of piracy has lead to problems within our culture.  According to Lessig, “The consequence is that we are less and less of a free culture, more and more of a permission culture.”  This effect threatens novice creators as they spread ideas that affect our culture.

            For instance the Colbert Report covered a story on the “Underground Piracy of Warren Michigan” headed by the pirating “kingpin” Fred-Merle.  Stephen’s hilarious satire of the events shows the problems that Lessig has worried about.  Here is a man who is in charge of running the “Polka Party” which is a public access program in Warren.  He decided to make some DVDs for the people who enjoyed the music and charged them 15 dollars per DVD.  This resulted in him being arrested and forced to pay $450 dollars to the court.  This is a driving point behind Lessig’s argument, as the lines between the commercial and noncommercial thin, the ability to charge someone for spreading a pastime such has polka has increased.  Before the age of the Internet people spread content fairly easily by recording a movie on vhs and giving it to a friend to enjoy.   Now due to the developing permission culture law enforcement is stepping in on the free culture and its ability to spread enjoyment, such as polka music.  This enforcement of the spread of culture with nearly zero financial implications are absurd and shows how irrationally the laws are now written.  If people are charged for spreading ideas then creativity will take a backseat to big corporation financial gains. According to Lessig, this “will also rid our culture of values that have been integral to our tradition from the start,” and no one in America wants to see that. 

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