FAMOUS AUTHORS

Mean World Syndrome

NO. 1

Mean World Syndrome is a theory the sociologist George Gerbner, creator of the Cultural Indicator’s Project, where three quarters of Americans believe in high level of crime, even though statistics show it is low. In the media, there is too much sex and violence, more so than the average person will ever see a day in their lives, and it has become repetitive, too routine, as the storytelling of violence seem ‘normal’. Since 1995, the demand for guns to ‘protect themselves’ has been at an all time high, and so is the fear, fear that everyone in the world is a suspect. But most importantly, is the image of the bad guys coming to get them. 2/3 of Americans get their information from the media, mostly the news, which creates negative stereotypes of minorities, who are seen as violent and aggressive.

NO. 2 Take for instance, Latina’s, who make up 15% in population in America, are portrayed by the media as aggressors, seen as ‘rapists and gangbangers’ or ‘murderers’. They are also the subject of illegal immigration, which all together creates dehumanizing effects. Then, there’s the vilification of Arabs and Muslims, as bloodthirsty terrorists, that are linked to violence and terror, and the subject of torture/ing of these people is ‘okay as long as it’s a good guy doing it’’. 39% of Americans actually believes that American-born Muslims are not loyal to the country’s ideals, and so not loyal to them. And finally, African-Americans are twice as likely to be seen as perpetrators. In the media, it is harmful showing black people as great middle/class, successful people, then as violent and aggressive in the next slide, as if to say some people choose that type of lifestyle, that they are simply a product of their environment. White people are five times more than likely to be criminalized by whites than black people, yet it’s not white people being shown almost everyday on the news for braking crimes.

The result of all this is the active fear in everyday Americans that makes us less likely to be compassionate, and more hardened to anyone and everyone. It also increases a high demand for national security, and believing that we have to lock these ‘criminals in cages where they belong.’

Cultivation Theory is the examination of the long term effects of television. Media cultivates a set of values, meanings, expectations, understanding, etc. which is the culture now in the modern century. Mass media replacement of community-based storytellers, it advances corporate interests (increasing profits and sales) since Americans spend a lot of time with the media. The effects are becoming more systemic and all encompassing. We need to start asking questions, like who is being represented in the media, who is the victim, and who is in the cast, and what are their fates. Who is generally casted as the good guy, and who is casted as the bad guy. We can look to the Media Database (IMDb) to see who is making the cultural object, and what is the main subject. Mean World Syndrome relates to this theory, through intersections of race, gender, ethnicity, criminal justice and the international border. We need to understand who is creating these TV shows/films, since America has such a global reach, it attracts the largest audience. Sociologists are not condemning media, but the constant repetition of ‘happy violence’—where in the film, show, or media, the good guy faces has a challenge, fights and action and explosions reoccurs, he stops the evil doer, saves the damsel, and the day is saved! It’s boring, cliché and the same story over and over again— and the various franchises and storylines springing from these corporations because it slows down progress and keeps negative stereotypes alive, some of them extremely damaging.

The Origins of Fairies

Fairies are magical creatures, and all manners of children are obsessed with just the mention of them. Not to mention the Disney-ified version of fairies like ‘‘Tinkerbell’’. But where or what was the was the origination of ‘fairies’? How did people come to call these magical spirits ‘fairies’? And where did the word ‘fairy’ come from, and how has the meaning change over the centuries?

Well, the first question, what are the origins of fairies, or ‘fairyland’? Fairies are most widely mentioned in Gaelic literature, meaning Ireland, and are vastly integral to the people and culture. ‘Ireland is the country of Fairies. Fully to understand the Irish temperament, therefore it is necessary to know Ireland’s Fairy lore. Since the Fairies are mentioned first and most frequently in the literature written in the Irish languages of centuries ago, we must turn for information to the great mass of poems and stories from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. The Fairies of ancient Ireland belonged to a race known as ‘Tuath De Danaan’ came to Ireland, legend says from the ‘northern isles of the world, where they had been learning lore and magic and druidism and wizardry and cunning until they surpassed the sages of the arts of heathendom.’ ’’

Why then, have the mention of fairies been connected to the feminine, and feminine ideals? Because beauty standards rely heavily on gender, and ‘fairies’ with their magical art forms, have become twisted and their original ‘conquering form’ forgotten, and what better way to reinforce this than by using children’s fairy tales, which emphasizing women’s beauty and passivity, which serve to legitimize the dominant gendered system. ‘‘Research since the early 1970s has shown that children’s literature contains explicit and implicit messages about dominant power structures in society, especially those concerning gender. Fairy tales written during the eighteenth and nineteenth were intended to teach girls and young women how to become domesticated, respectable, and attractive to a marriage partner and to teach boys and girls appropriated gendered values, and attitudes.’’

Finally, where did the word ‘fairie’ come from? ‘‘They were at first, as established up above, called the ‘De Dannans’, who came to conquer those who were already in possession of Ireland, but were overcome with the ‘Mileasans’, a mythical race said to be the ancestors of modern Irishmen, and settled in a seperate part of the island, retiring into the green hills, where they required a new name: People of the Fairy Mound, or Aes Side (Ace Shithe, or Shee). As clouds are shot through with lightning, so is early Irish literature with accounts of invaders who became the Fairy Folk. ‘In Ireland, the Fairies have never been forgotten’: Brian Merriman, the last Gaelic poet of prominence, speaks of them as the treasure of his country in time of trouble, and Patrick MacGill, the Donegal poet, expressed the same idea when, amid the terrors of the battlefield, he wrote, ‘If we forget the Fairies,

And tread upon the rings,

God will perchance forget us,

And think of other things.

When we forget you, Fairies,

Who guard our spirits’ light:

God will forget the morrow,

And Day forget the Night’’.

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Sometimes you’re just an introverted loser who sits alone in your room with a cup of tea and a book, has fantasies about morally grey fictional characters, is severely touch starved with a completely fucked up sleep schedule and slowly declining mental health.

The Study of Creation Stories

In every culture on Earth, people make up creation origins. I say origins because I am aware that many people still believe in their individual God, OR gods, and therefore, in their own creation origins. The purpose of these stories is is to reassure us, humans, that we are not alone, that we were created to have some purpose, and that there was a reason we are alive here today. Creation myths exist because every culture has one, and that is to say that some individuals created us for a reason. Creation myths can influence how the history of the world or society is viewed by the type of story the creation myth has originated from, based on how the society is living.

NO. 2

Some of the similarities among these creation myths are that in the beginning, the world is dark, but some deity or animal comes and sets the world with light and color. The deity sets to work and makes the world with animals, man, mountains, rivers, etc. In the Aboriginal Creation Origin, an endless tall pole is coming out from the ground and emerges from the land in the time before time. At the end of the pole, Ka-ro-ra, the Creator God was the one who was sleeping at the end of the pole. Ka-ro-ra produces sons by dreaming of them, searching for fruit. The Greeks made it so that the Earth was a battleground, devoid of life from the early battle of the gods, until the titan Prometheus created humans out of clay, modeling them in the shape of the gods. Except that leads to the horrible end for him, when he asked the king, Zeus for fire. As most people know, Prometheus was chained to a rock with an eagle to pick out of his liver for all eternity for stealing fire to give to the humans.

NO. 3

Creation stories are entertaining to hear, regardless if you believe them or not. Before modern technology, people only had their imagination and word of mouth to get them through the day. That’s why archeologists deduced early humans’ cave drawings and stories as ways that show that they were there, that they should be remembered and celebrated. Each creation's origin story is designed with each society's culture and views in mind. In the Inca myth, it mentions planting and plowing fields, which is what the men do, and the art of weaving and cooking, which is what the women do. Each person comes together, pro-creates, and teaches this to their children, and the cycle repeats.

Happy Easter everybody!

Krampus, the legend!

During the Christmas season, every young boy and girl awaits their presents and gifts with eagerness, hoping for Santa to make their way to their homes. The saying, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout is the official song for Santa Claus as he is checking his list for all the good boys and girls. But for those who are naughty children, the invention of the famed horned goat Krampus who works together with St. Nick.

NO. 2

Created in Eastern European folklore, Krampus, meaning ‘claw’, is depicted as a horned, half-demon like monster who terrorizes naughty children, hitting them and beating them with whips, other versions having him with chains, sometimes shaking them to scare the children, equipped with a sack or a basket strapped to his back, to cart off the children chosen to be either eaten or dragged to Hell. He even has a holiday dedicated just to him, celebrated in Germany and now, because of the film, in America as well, called Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night, on December 6. In this long and very funny tradition, spectators dressed up as Krampus appears in the streets, visiting homes and business, along with his devilish accomplices, evil elves and imps, the total anthesis of Santa Claus, who help Krampus scare people and onlookers in the streets.

NO. 3

Because of the resurgence of the celebration of Krampus in the late 19th century, including popular greeting cards with his image and funny rhymes and poems, not to mention the many horror movies or TV shows in North America, gaining traction and popularity every time Christmas comes around. Or maybe it’s because of the intense, heavy commercialization around Christmas time, meant for family and friends. So, here’s the question, do you celebrate Krampus, or Christmas as a whole, or do you think he’s just a myth better left to the children?

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Stucky

#stucky #steverogers #buckybarnes #avengers

I feel like this song is a great Stucky song. Because it literally uses lines like:

“Tell me it’s not the end of the line”

and

“I won’t let this plane go down”

and

“I wanna turn the clock right back to where it was”

Great Stucky song is all I’m saying.

Very informative thread -source