There is DEFINITELY a Problem...

Matt Brown
October 5th
ENGL 2123
BLOG Assignment

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5MzRn60irvc&mode=related&search=

YOUTUBE. Wow. Anyone that can figure out how to work a digital camera and turn on a computer can broadcast whatever they want to the entire world. But, why? Is it a release? Is it a way to reach out to people? Or is it a way to just get your name out there? I’d say it’s a little bit of all of these. One person that uses all of these options is Chris Crocker. Most famous for his “Leave Britney Alone” video, I chose to take a deeper look at this video. What we know of Chris Crocker is that he’s a very opinionated gay man with a slight case of Schizophrenia, as diagnosed by his boyfriend. But, what are Chris Crocker’s motives? Sandra Leong of the Singapore Times hits the nail on the head when she asks “is the world of me-me-me blogging self-expression or self-indulgence?”

If you’ve ever seen any Chris Crocker video, or if this is your first one, there should be no doubt in your mind that this is a disturbed man. To me, Chris Crocker is undoubtedly a Schizophrenic or suffering from some other type of chemical imbalance. I believe that this video is somewhat of a cry for help but I also believe that Chris is using YOUTUBE as a way to express his exhibitionism. After watching several videos of his it is apparent to me that this particular one is just another one of his self-indulgent clips. I am not convinced that he cares about anyone but himself. “Mr. Robin Yee, and online journalism lecturer at the School of Film & Media Studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, points to the advertising tag-lines and consumer products like Apple’s iPod and iTunes and StarHub’s iMode – the cult of ‘i’ – as contributory factors” (Leong). Could this be true? If you’ve noticed, there has been a lot of attention on the individual in recent advertisements. Some websites like “myspace” advertise the “culture of ‘I’” right in the name. With so much focus on the individual how can exhibitionist needs not be expected? It’s almost to the point of a race – a contest to see who can write a longer “about me,” who can post more pictures of themselves, or who has the most friends. The initial intention, I believe, was to promote self-expression – a shy, introvert expressing themselves in a setting where they feel comfortable writing some things about themselves. But fueled by the competitive nature of people to compete with one another, self-expression becomes a contest where winning is the most important thing - even if it involves twisting the truth a little bit.

With this ongoing battle where the next person is constantly striving to outdo the last I can’t help but question the credibility of some of the videos I see, including this one. Are the crazy noises and faces by Chris in between phrases necessary? Is he truly having a schizophrenic episode or is he putting on an act for shock value? Smart money is on the latter. This isn’t any news to anyone, but still we continue to log on to YOUTUBE and watch these over-the-top videos. So, we as a society continue to feed these self-indulgent people whose egos increase exponentially with each hit their video gets. Robert Atwan might argue that these videos are merely an emerging art form, but I feel that the problem is deeper-rooted than that (Antawn 155). I won’t exclude myself when I ask, “don’t we have more productive things to do?” Every time I get onto the computer and watch someone like Chris Crocker talk it drives me nuts. I fear that if enough publicity is given to these people that they will become more powerful than they need to be - and for what? For being a nut? But, I guess it comes down to the fact that “it is hard not to be captivated by the potential of witnessing something uncensored, no matter how banal” (Diller + Scofido

Bibliography
Atwan, Robert. (2005). Convergences: Message Medium Method. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Online Source is http://www.lexisnexis.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?risb=21_T2222595349&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T2222595354&cisb=22_T2222595353&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&selRCNodeID=8&nodeStateId=411en_US,1,2&docsInCategory=1&csi=144965&docNo=1 by Sandra Leong

Rick Kruth

This video is one of most unique type I have ever encountered. Its title is even interesting, “Web 2.0… The machine is Us/ing Us”. I think it pretty much breaks down how much we rely on the internet and what it does for us and also what we do for it. The video is pretty much visual. The creator of the video must have put a lot of work into making it. The message I would assume is that the internet is connecting people yet it would not be there if it wasn’t for us. What we do everyday such a blogging, posting, and etc. is building it more and more making the web massive. Most people do understand how much content the internet has and almost give it respect but the truth is we created it. It’s like as if we marveled at the Universe, and we were the creators. I see it as a more mutual relationship. We benefit it and it benefits from us, but without us, it would not exist. We would exist without the web regardless, so I assume that’s why the internet is using us, but we also may find ourselves lost if we had no internet access. We would feel like we are missing out on a lot. I appreciate how the author gives the web human characteristics. I forgot the literary term for giving human characteristics to an object, but it would fall into that category.

The intro of the video is a major piece. I think it shows how the world suddenly grew in technology. I think the title even reflects it a bit. “Web 2.0” It reminds of programs like winamp or windows media player because they all had previous versions and newer version with higher numbers. “Web 2.0” perfectly describes the internet’s status and also reveals the fact that it can only grow. This is only the beginning. The video first started with a hand writing words to communicate and then it used text. They both were change rapidly through a user. Basically it would not be able to do that if it were not for that user (us). “The Machine is Us/ing Us” fits this explanation. It also shows us the advancement we had using computers and also the benefit of it. For the handwriting, the user had to manually insert text to alter the previous text and to do so someone close to efficiently, he or she had to write in between the lines. And through technology, the text was easily altered in a very timely fashion and also made it almost into an art of the changing text and the message was brought across clearly.

The transition from the meaning of the text also supported the meaning of how the world is linking us everywhere. Another point to mention is that the transition from simple short text went into a website full of words and content. The developer of the clip allowed us to connect because most of us are all familiar with the video. We can connect to it because we have all done the same. We’ve browsed through websites (hundreds) for entertainment like news, music, and other information. We also used it for blogging and video searching. I see this video as more as a growth of the net and how we are basically the nutrients feeding the net. It then the text becomes something more: colors, pictures, videos, borders, certain text styles. All of them manipulated by a certain code text. And we use this all to get our messages across.

The method of this video is basically communicating to us by making a personal connection. The video moves through the websites in a familiar way, a way that we usually see ourselves moving through the net. It shows how we pull pieces of info from a website to understand the information we need or want. And through that, it communicates by highlighting certain texts or a collaboration of words to communicate to the viewer. It shows different websites like news sites, yahoo.com, It also shows how information is organized on the net. Like a news site for example. “Feds tricked holed-up tax evaders” is a heading on cnn.com and then once clicked a whole story will appear with in-depth information with thousands of words and also pictures. And this heading is only one of hundreds. And then to know that all this information was organized though text codes is amazing. And then to also know the news website is one of something million other websites is mind bottling. I guess it breaks down a website from a broad view to a narrow view. And how it small compared to something big and how it is big when we are reading the news heading. The video almost explains the dynamics of the web and how enormous it is. The video shows how the internet is categorized and how and where to look to find what we want.

The medium of course is interactive media on the web. The creator used the net to get his or her message across. And well did it did, 3.5 million views. In the Convergences, “medium is a complex term, with a wide range of connation.” “the word “medium” refers to the physical material an artist uses in the creation or construction of work: Michelangelo used marble;….” The internet fits into this category. The internet is almost physical and maker of the video did use the internet to get his or her message across. And to be more exact, the medium was YOUTUBE.com, the same website that sets as a medium to millions of other users.

Video website:

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/05/tax.standoff/index.html

Atwan, Robert. Convergences: Message, Method, Medium. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.

Freedom of Cheer?

by Mary Claire Gilder

LSU has a reputation of being a party school—binge drinking, loud music, and obscenity. Many Tiger fans try to dispel these rumors, reminding others of all of the wonderful things our university does outside of a Saturday night in Death Valley. There is a video circulating the internet which was filmed at the LSU versus South Carolina game, in which a cheer that is an old favorite of the student section gets a makeover. The “Oh-e-oh” song that is sung after an LSU touchdown had the word “cock” added to the end of it, causing a surge of mixed emotions through Tiger Stadium, as well as the country. There were other cheers and chants that night, as well as many others, that stirred up controversy, but this cheer seemed to make headlines more than others.

This video was originally posted to showcase the creativity of the student section. However, there were many comments left by people who were disgusted with the chant. Not only were on-lookers upset with student, but University officials tried to censor the student section more than ever after the South Carolina game. The controversy of the language used in the student section at home games is displayed by this video and its comments.



The video looks as though it was filmed with someone’s digital camera. It’s is hard to distinguish faces, because the pixilation is poor, but the most important part of the video, the audio, is loud and clear. It is a very short clip, only seventeen seconds, but the chant “You suck cock” surely resounds in a listener’s ear for much longer than that.

I think that the message of this video is two-fold. One argument could be that the student section is obscene, vulgar, and as many comments said “classless.” The other side of the argument could be that LSU students have a fiery passion for their football team, and that each opponent is a joke to them. These two arguments were present in the running commentary left by viewers under the video. However, the video just demonstrated to me that young adults with a lot of pride and, most frequently, a lot of alcohol in their systems, will speak their minds and when caught up in the moment, use adult humor to make a point. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with what was said. I was not one of the fans to say it, but given the heat of competition in the SEC and the general distaste LSU holds for its opponent when at the game, it is something relatively tame that was said.

The language used in the student section has always been controversial. “Tiger Rag” was a popular song at football games, but last year the Tiger Band was forced to stop playing it at football games because students had turned part of the song into a chant used to heckle the opposing team. At last week’s game, “Oh-e-oh” was not even played due to the fact that Tiger Band was held responsible for leading the student section in the vulgarity. Tiger Band is not at all responsible for what the students say, but they are the ones who bear the brunt of the disciplining from University officials.

What this video symbolizes is the unwavering pride that LSU fans hold. The fire that is in an LSU fan is something that is hard to extinguish, and it is also something that many other people around the country do not understand and therefore judge. As a Tiger fan, I am proud, but around the country, saying “Geaux Tigers” will conjure up this booze-soaked, loud-mouthed, arrogant football fan. While Tiger fans range in age and personality, there is one distinguishing trait that keeps them together—pride, even if it is vulgar, crude or classless. All other fans are just Tiger bait.

Shh, Don’t Stare

by Kimberly Watson

As young children, we are taught it is wrong to “point-and-stare” at those with obvious anomalies, such as an amputee, someone with a walking disability, someone covered in warts, etc. Our mothers tell us, “Shh, don’t stare.” It is rude to make a big deal about someone who is different.
Yet, we constantly give our money and utter attention to people who are different if they are willing to entertain us. On the other end, a good percentage of those who are different are willing to use the very thing that makes them different to their advantage—they are willing to entertain anyone who is willing to pay and stare. It is well-known that “circus sideshows”—attractions where humans with obvious physical anomalies were put on display like animals at the zoo—attracted heavy crowds and plenty of profit. People paid to watch the degradation of other humans, but, just as fascinatingly, these humans (for the most part) could not imagine any other life besides being a “freak” in a sideshow.

It used to be the mentally retarded, physically handicapped (or those with physical anomalies who were not otherwise handicapped), or emotional problems were kept hidden away from shame of the family. If the role of family is to produce offspring to continue the family line and carry on the family name, then it can be seen as a failure, or even punishment, that a family should produce offspring incapable of this act. Furthermore, the abuse or ostracism of these people was considered socially acceptable, often making it difficult for people with genetic defects but the ability to work to find jobs, or keep jobs without fear of bullying or abuse. For these reasons, a travelling circus was seen as acceptance among peers, because one would be surrounded by people with the same history; escape, because one would be free from their home life; and a way to make money, and, for the most part, the “freaks” in a travelling circus were treated well. There was a mutual advantage of people who came to watch “freak shows.” To pay to see someone who entertains us was and is socially acceptable. Therefore, our shame, fear, inquisitiveness, and other abstract emotions that comes with seeing a “freak” is abated. We can point and stare at the thing that willingly puts itself on display to be pointed and stared at, but we can be seen as cruel if we point and stare at the pitiable person walking down the street, minding his own business.

David Gerber, quoting Douglas Bicklen (a sociologist in the field of mental retardation), states, “the freak show is the ‘pornography of disability,’ a reprehensible, exploitive, and worthless indulgence in bad taste” (Gerber 16). This sentiment seems to be shared with the majority of our society today; it has been decades since the role and existence of the “circus sideshow” has all but disappeared. We look down upon people who would ridicule or abuse those with genetic defects because, now that we understand why people have these defects, we as a society understand that these people are still humans who deserve the same rights as “normal” people do. Therefore, the thought of placing a human behind bars for being hairy, overweight, missing limbs, or any other reason seems like ghastly torture of the unfortunate. But does this mean our naïve curiosity of and desire to see “circus freaks” has disappeared?



The young man in the video is named Johnnie Baima, a.k.a. Sandie Crisp, but for the purposes of this response, I will use his other stage name—Goddess Bunny. He is a child of the darker side of the foster care system in America, having been moved from foster home to foster home, enduring abuse from his foster families. He had polio as a child, and a botched surgery to fix his back actually exacerbated his physical problems. The video above sparked many discussions. Who is this person? Are they doing this willingly? What’s wrong with him? What is the point? Why does the video end as it does? Who, in their right mind, would film this and put it on the Internet? Among other things, though, it had sparked a brief Internet trend. Videos popped up of people imitating Goddess Bunny, or editing music in the video, or editing the video itself. I happened to find the video when another YouTube user re-uploaded and said he was filming his niece tap-dancing for the world. Typing “Goddess Bunny” into search fields of YouTube brings up pages of results, and even using a search engine like Google returns discussion about this video. Massive, almost rabid, interest in this person and his video made Goddess Bunny famous—on the Internet, at least.

The question presented is why, in a culture where we should know better, did we not stop staring at this video? If this were Shirley Temple, would it get as much attention? If this were a person free of genetic defects, would it have spread around the Internet as it did? Goddess Bunny wanted to film this video—the clip comes from a longer, rare video about him. This was filmed obviously during the time before webcams, but the same principles apply. As he would have danced for people back when there were circus sideshows, he let himself be filmed for others to pay money and watch him.

Thanks to the Internet, though, millions of people can see Goddess Bunny perform without having to track down his VHS, and of those people, others find ways to gain “Internet fame” by linking this video in their online communities to discuss, make new videos ridiculing him, or participating in online discussions on the YouTube pages broadcasting this video. Other than calling one back to the times when it was “all right” to partake of watching humans with genetic or physical deformities with just a small fee and a safe crowd, this video has become one of the many concrete Internet trends of yore. This relates to Zatz’s description of “sidewalks in cyberspace.” Online communities converge when watching and discussing the video. The video has been linked all over the place, removing distance between communities. Similarly, new communities on the Internet come about just to discuss the video. Like a hip new place to hang out, this video has for a while created its own hub on the Internet.

Myth of Religion; The Solar Messiahs God's Sun Christ Horus

“Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.”




Most people are familiar with this prayer, but just who is “our Father which art in heaven?” If you’re one of the 224,437,959 Americans who identify themselves as Christian, then your “father” is Jesus Christ. In fact, as of 2000, 33% of the Entire World, claim to be followers of Jesus. So who is He? Where did He come from? A simple answer to these questions is: he is the “Son of God.” A more complex and controversial (perhaps truer) answer is: he is the “Sun of God.”



Why would this obviously controversial video be uploaded? I see only one reason: To get people to think, to question what they have been taught. Religion is one of the things you learn growing up. Your parents take you to the church of their religion, and that’s it. You are in a way forced into a certain religion. If you grew up in a Christian home, more often than not, you will identify yourself as Christian. If you were raised in a Muslim home, you’d be Muslim. There is very little opportunity for you to broaden your knowledge of religion and choose which one you feel is best for you. By the time you do have the opportunity, you have already become a part of that religion and you do not want to break free. Today’s society is in dire need of this video, because it forces us to examine what we believe. With media today showing all kinds of things, it has become increasingly harder to determine whether something is true or not. It takes extra research in to everything, before you can make a reliable decision.
This videos message is a relatively simple one: Christianity is an anthropomorphic zed representation of the sun. To some this is a hard pill to swallow, but if taken in to examination, it is completely logical. In ancient times, people had no advanced technology. That means if crops were not growing, they had no way of knowing that maybe it was the wrong type of soil. They knew nothing of the water cycle, so rain was seen as a chance happening, “magical.” So how could they explain certain phenomenon? Some believe they created religion. They created the notion of an almighty being that controlled everything. They also acknowledged that some things were out of there control, and in order for things to work smoothly, they would have to worship and give sacrifice to the Almighty. Thus religion was borne. Also, the lack of technology (i.e. light, clocks) resulted in ancient people having to perform all duties around the schedule of the sun. When the sun rose, it was time to get up. When the sun went down, it was time to sleep. The ancient people also relied on the sun for time. Being a mainly agricultural society, the sun was also detrimental to their food supply. With the sun basically controlling ancient life, what could be more powerful? Hence, the emergence of the “sun gods.” Most, if not all ancient societies had some form of a sun god. Each just slightly different than the next. The video shows the closeness and similarities of the gods. Time and time passed, the something happened to shape religion. People no longer stayed in their native lands. More and more people began to travel to different places bringing along with them their ideas and customs. As people interacted, ideas exchanged, but as true as it is today, people interpreted things different. Somewhere along the line, the fact that the gods were personifications of the sun got lost, and the idea that the gods were real people emerged. Christianity is a relatively new religion. So of course, it would have to derive it’s beginning from previous sources. Justinian I, in the Code of Justinian set out to make Christianity the ultimate religion. But people were used to pagan gods, so Justinian conformed Christianity to satisfy pagans. The fact that Christmas is on the 25th of December, ( the pagan god Mithra’s birthday), the Sabbath day Is Sunday –“day of sun”(he enforced a national Sunday law, anyone worshipping any other day was prosecuted) and many other Christian traditions was due to conforming to paganism. And the pagan tradition at the time: sun worship. If one would take the time to study religion deeply, they will be amazed at what they would find.
The significance of a video such as this is that it shows a different side of a popular idea. If you ask most people about God and religion, you would hear a one sided story; “ohh, yeah it’s true.” “You should believe.” “God is real.” Rarely, will you hear contradiction. This video shows that not everyone is conforming to society ( There is also a theory, that government wants it’s people to believe in a
God, because of the idea that you must be “good” and it makes people think that some thing are not in their control, thus making them allow to be governed). This video is for anyone willing to learn more about a thing that affects their life daily.

This video was interesting and amazing to me. It opened my eyes and my mind, to things I would have never seen nor imagined. Religion is a touchy subject to a lot of folks. Most people avoid the subject altogether. Whether or not you believe this video is up to the person watching. In all fairness, no one can tell for sure whether there is a god or not. Maybe there are things in which man can never understand.

Kassie and the Monster

Kristen LaNasa
English 2123
Video Response
October 5, 2007
You tube has become a part of everyday life for the public and can be used as a refuge for a person bored at the office, a student who is trying to do everything in their power not to study, or simply as an alternative to watching TV. You can find almost anything on you -tube including political debates or natural disasters/phenomenon, and many other types of clips from the media. There are also home videos, which usually provide comical relief. In the particular video that I chose, “Kassie kicks monster’s ass,” it does just that. It starts with the phrase “when a 3 year old is asked about monsters….. The answer may surprise you” and then changes frames to a little girl who is being asked what would she do if he would come here. She replies “I saidddd, I’m going to kick his ask!” The woman starts laughing, and Kassie then smiles this ridiculously adorable smile. The woman then says “that’s not nice…” and Kassie logically replies: “If he gonna come over here-a, he’s gonna kick my ask.” Kassie continues to repeat ‘ass,’ because she is obviously getting positive feedback and at one point says “he gonna come out of the movie, he gonna kick my ask,” until her mother explains that it’s not a nice word and you should say ‘but.’ “OOOOOHHHHHHH.”

In the essay “Webcams” in Convergences, it states that webcams have many purposes in our society including: acting as a public service, a mode of passive advertisement, a new type of exhibitionism, or self disciplinary act. When I first read the phrase ‘public service,’ I thought of the traffic cam that you see when you’re at a red light. But then I thought about it and it could also mean comic relief. People search for funny. That is what I personally use you tube for; to view something amusing. It all started back in the primitive stages of watching “America’s funniest home videos” in 1998. I am not going to lie, I still watch it from time to time, but cyberspace has made up a whole new set of rules. For example, anyone can post their video, you can watch it at any time and as often as you like. “Kassie and the Monster” video was posted for the public to serve as an amusing clip of everyday life. The message is showing the pure innocence of a child, and the humor that comes from kids ‘saying the darnest things.’ It is part of our culture to share private videos from our homes and show the entire world. Many people watch videos like Kassie and the Monster and relate to it some type or way. That is what is so important about webcams and video clips online; it creates a relationship with everyone who watches it no matter where the source or the receiver is from. For example: I know that I have no idea where Kassie and her family live, but when I pressed play, I was virtually in her living room. When I was looking for another source besides Convergences, I kept finding articles written about how cyberspace is a tricky place, and everything I typed in about “home videos” I got things about Jennicam and other things of that nature. It doesn’t seem like the critics are focusing on the good about cyberspace, only the bad. In an article “Watch me! Webcams and the Public Exposure of Private Lives” by Brooke Knight it states that Webcams and cyberspace present problematic issues because of the fact that you create a relationship with a physical distance. In other words, every article is about the people who have a web cam set up every day. But this is not the case of every video that is posted on websites. In the case of my video clip, the scenes are edited and scripted. It is obvious because the woman in the background says “tell me again…” so I can conclude that she went and got her video camera after she heard Kassie say ‘ass’ the first time. So why share this video with virtually all of cyberspace?
You can connect the media and the videos that are posted on you tube by noticing that there are T.V. shows that are based on just showing clips from the internet, or segments in talk shows that do the same thing. Kassie actually went on the Ellen Degeneres show and got interviewed. This helps prove that the audience for this video is very family orientated.
The media is now very involved with cyberspace and has recognized the popularity in websites such as you-tube. Maybe the woman who posted the video of Cassie was also passively advertising her because she knew that certain parts of the media would respond.
The article by Knight also says that the reason the web cam is so popular and intriguing is because it creates familiarity. My favorite quote from the article is the last line: “It is a self portrait of great importance because it is of seemingly nothing at all.” This supports the fact that my generation enjoys watching clips, videos, and tv shows about nothing in general. There is no extreme lesson to be learned in the video, besides that ‘ass’ is a bad word, and there is no super significance or strong moral values that we should learn. Which makes the statement of us as a culture enjoys watching things that we are familiar with and can relate to.
I feel my selection of the Kassie and the monster clip was a good choice because it is one that speaks for the stereotypical type of video that is watched on you-tube and other websites of that nature. My generation is not going to search political debates every day of the week. The public wants funny, and that is what a lot of web cams do for us today. Thanks to you-tube and other websites of its nature, we have found a place to laugh and be enlightened.

Bibliography
Atwan, Robert. (2005). Convergences: Message Method Medium. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Knight, Brooke A. (Winter 2000) Watch Me! Webcams and The public exposure of private lives. Art Journal.