Thesis

Many things caught my attention in this chapter, but what mainly stood out to me was that their process of writing and strengthening a thesis was remarkably similar to mine. I thought they were inside my head or something. When I write, I start out with a thesis and then go on to expand the points with deeper thinking, then connect everything together in the conclusion. I may not do it extremely well on certain subjects, but that is what I always at least try to do. The explanation they gave in the chapter was basically deeper thoughts on what already comes naturally to me.

1983: The Female Address Video

What I thought was interesting in this video was the difference of the messages, but the similarity of the videos. In both videos, Benatar and Lauper leave their home and parade through the streets and what not, but Lauper's message is more fun and happy, while Benatar's is more visceral. Due to its nature, I think Benatar's video has the stronger message. It is more making more of a statement about the world than Lauper's statement of youth. My video, "Next Girl" by the Black Keys, doesn't really related to "Girls just want to have Fun", but heavily related to "Love is a Battlefield". "Next Girl" is about someone who's girlfriend was beautiful, but a terrible person and scarred him for life. Thinking about "Love is a Battlefield" helped my perspective on this particular subject, but "Girls just want to have Fun" didn't really help me at all. I would say that "Love is a Battlefield" in a sense that, like what happened to the man in the Black Keys song, it can scar you for the rest of your life. You will never be the same after a battle/relationship. 

Television versus Musical Television

My current favorite TV show is 'Community' which is a comedy series about a group of students at a community college. It is very heavily laden with pop-culture and meta-humor. The commercials that are on during Community are usually commercials for other TV shows on a variety of different networks. This type of advertising works on me, and other Community fans, because of the interest in pop culture. I very much enjoy primetime television and absolutely love pop culture, which is probably the reason I love Community and the commercials that are aired during it. The thing about music videos versus primetime television is that music videos are about three or four minutes long and the only vocalization you get are lyrics (which I like to be cryptic and open to interpretation). Television has anywhere from thirty minutes to a hour to send a message across with dialogue or what have you, which is a lot easier to get a message across. Music videos, however, can generally be very abstract and 'weird' as opposed to TV shows that have to maintain a structure and basic plot.

Barbie

I had no strong feelings in support of or against Barbie before or after reading this essay. Everyone has their hobbies and barbies are just one of them. People use hobbies to cope with things, like the woman whose son died, and some people just do it to meet other like-minded people, like the veterinarian. This essay was important for the author because she tried to do something that she had never done before (go to a barbie convention) and found some sort of meaning in it. That sort of thing really opened her eyes towards things "out of her comfort zone", because she now has a respect to something she wouldn't have been "caught dead at" before.

Self as a Text

What do my clothes say about me? That I'm different. Not different because I am trying to be super cool and not conform to the dogmas of modern society, but different in a sense that I dress according to how I feel. If I were a text, I would be written (and understood) by a schizophrenic person. If I am feeling particularly happy, then I will dress in bright colors, if sad then dark colors. Whether or not I'm wearing shorts, jeans, a t-shirt, a button-up shirt, a polo, or anything is purely random. The only thing that I take seriously are shoes. If you're not going to be on a boat/dock, don't wear Sperry's. If you're not going hiking, don't wear Chacos. I believe that footwear should be worn according to your situation. I dress for function and comfort. What anyone thinks about the way I dress is not my problem.