July 2-14-08

In the readings there was an interesting, but true quote that caught Dr. Rog’s eye and mine too. I believe it was covered in the Lyotard readings from Tuesday’s class. The reason why I picked this quote was because it is straightforward and not hard to interpret. Also, it explains the world we live in today and the people who run it.

I would like to start with the quote from page 43, as stated “Pleasure derives from pain.” This quote simply shows how society likes to see individuals suffer, but they do not want to go through hardships of their own. For example, Brittney Spears has been the talk of the town for years now, but it wasn’t for her new album or endorsement deal, it is because she is going through stardom depression. Since she was a big teen idol for most young girls her life has always been shown on cameras, even when her career was at its worst. Brittney may have lost some of her music or idol fans, but she suddenly gained new fans from jumping out of the car with no panties, becoming a party girl, having numerous break-ups, and shaving her hair. These examples are just the minor wrongs that our society has feed off of. It is sad but celebrity obsession has come to its worst in the last decade. Instead of these fans being supportive and trying to help the young star they rather critique, but continue to watch every news line that has her in it. That is kind of ironic! We as a society feed and feed into the wrong of others until it happens to us or someone close to us, then we think we can relate.

This obsession causes the media to perpetuate negative and degrading images of these celebrities. Although I used a celebrity in my example, this doesn’t mean it only pertains to this community because I believe everyone can look back and remember an incident where you were happy to see another individual at their worst or you knew about someone’s problem but didn’t care to help because it might affect you. If you can, then you are a victim of this quote.