As I began to break down the concept of modern vs. postmodern I had to ask myself, "self where do you really stand in this situation?" Am I a modernist or am I a post modernist? On one hand I find myself listening to talk radio, watching the news, and reading the newspaper so I can stimulate my mind with some type of useful knowledge. But then there are times where I subject myself to the latest gossip of "who did what with whom" and "so and so is a sex addicted." In The Public Sphere it states "that public life is important; and that personal life is not important" (48). This statement is true to a certain extent. For instance, in our class discussion we were discussing our modern vs. postmodern view on Heidi Montag and all her plastic surgery glory. From a modernist view it is not important because it is dealing with the feminine issue, it deals with the body, and in some ways can be seen a dealing with sexuality (i.e. breast enlargements). Yet from a postmodernist standpoint it deals with how Hollywood stereotypes can make a woman feel like the only way she can be pretty is by having plastic surgery. Or it can also be can example on the dangers of plastic surgery. According to NYDailyNews.com Montag explained in an interview with People Magazine that she almost had a death scare during her procedure, "I had too much Demerol like Michael Jackson did and my breathing was five breaths per minute which is like almost dead." So to finally answer my question of "where do I stand," I would have to say I am somewhere in the middle. While I feel public matters need to be in the public sphere more, I must admit I like a nice balance of unnecessary garbage of other people's private life.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Week 2: Where Do I Stand?
As I began to break down the concept of modern vs. postmodern I had to ask myself, "self where do you really stand in this situation?" Am I a modernist or am I a post modernist? On one hand I find myself listening to talk radio, watching the news, and reading the newspaper so I can stimulate my mind with some type of useful knowledge. But then there are times where I subject myself to the latest gossip of "who did what with whom" and "so and so is a sex addicted." In The Public Sphere it states "that public life is important; and that personal life is not important" (48). This statement is true to a certain extent. For instance, in our class discussion we were discussing our modern vs. postmodern view on Heidi Montag and all her plastic surgery glory. From a modernist view it is not important because it is dealing with the feminine issue, it deals with the body, and in some ways can be seen a dealing with sexuality (i.e. breast enlargements). Yet from a postmodernist standpoint it deals with how Hollywood stereotypes can make a woman feel like the only way she can be pretty is by having plastic surgery. Or it can also be can example on the dangers of plastic surgery. According to NYDailyNews.com Montag explained in an interview with People Magazine that she almost had a death scare during her procedure, "I had too much Demerol like Michael Jackson did and my breathing was five breaths per minute which is like almost dead." So to finally answer my question of "where do I stand," I would have to say I am somewhere in the middle. While I feel public matters need to be in the public sphere more, I must admit I like a nice balance of unnecessary garbage of other people's private life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Well first off, fyi, you have the modern and post-modern views backwards but I get your message. I feel that it is important to separate these news venues and not letting them bleed into one another. On ESPN, you should hear about sports, on Fox News, you should hear about political news. There are plenty of venues such as TMZ and Entertainment Tonight for people to get their fill of celebrity news and gossip and other news programs should not be burdened with the pettiness of these people's personal issues. People should have choices and those are being taken away by the media's insistence on pushing these issues into the public sphere. Everything has its own time and place, but that doesn't mean petty issues should be everywhere all the time.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you get my message, but I don't have the modern and post-modern views backwards. A modernist view is to keep trivial matters private and post-modernist view is everything is important to someone no matter what the case is. But I agree with you when you say that it is important to separate the news venues. I find it baffling that they rather report on Tiger Woods *or someone who looks like him* coming out of a sex addict clinic instead on important issues like health care or Haiti.
ReplyDeleteJust to avoid confusion, I have to agree w/ Jacs here--I think she's got the modernist/postmodernist stances right.
ReplyDelete