Cars

When we think of celebrities, we think of lavish lives of luxury and material items. Celebrities are well known to sport designer clothes and buy million dollar homes. One long standing celebrity obsession is with cars. MTV has produced TV shows around this obsession, like Pimp My Ride and Cribs. Shows like these are created to show consumers at home the world of commodities. These shows exaggerate many things, but manage to drive the audience crazy with attraction. After watching a Pimp My Ride episode where the highlight was making a fish tank out of the back seat, I did find myself craving with desire to be a part of the commercial intertext. We would forever live in bliss if we were not constantly made aware of what these individuals purchase on the daily, and what new, expensive material goods they flaunt. These shows drive our self worth down, and make us believe that in order to be happy and successful, we must all buy $200,000 cars and $5,000 purses. Credit card debt has become a major problem in the U.S.; people are spending thousands of dollars they don't have just to tell themselves that because they own the latest trends, they are worthy and they are happy. Shopping becomes an obsession to the Golden Arrow of Consumption as people need to feel a part of that world and it becomes a vicious cycle. As the marketing trends have transitioned to focus not on the product itself, but on the consumer, it has intensified the desire to belong to the world of commodities. Many brands use a "pull strategy" to increase demand for their products, and the advertising they do makes consumers froth at the mouth for a new fetish, whether it be shoes, toys or cars. This video is a clip from mTV's Cribs Cars Edition, where we have 3 famous rappers showcasing and bragging about their ridiculously made up vehicles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPC2MMba9Xk

Sex & Eroticism

A super obsession within the media is sexuality. Sex is blatantly expressed through many channels such as TV shows, movies, song lyrics, and music videos. Only a few decades ago sex was once a secretive topic that was inappropriate to discuss publicly; now there is no way to avoid it! I have specifically observed eroticism in today’s popular songs and music videos. There are a handful of artists out there that are known for their crude and explicit behavior. Nowadays, the majority of rap and hip hop songs that play on the radio are so vulgar, half of the words are bleeped out. Needless to say, I would never want to let my mom borrow my iPod. Rihanna’s 2011 song “S&M” was under so much fire from critics. The first time I head the song, I was very surprised it was playing on the radio. To quote some of her lines:

“Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it

Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it

Sticks and stones may break my bones

But chains and whips excite me”.

Her music video is exactly what you would expect to see: people tied up with tape, blindfolds, and whips. The idea of S&M pretty much freaks me out, as it probably does to many people. However, this totally abject notion of sexual pleasure from pain seems so dark and internal, that it arouses some people. This deviant activity has never been a part of pop culture until now. Artists like Rihanna, Britney Spears, Adam Lambert, and of course Lady Gaga use whips, chains, and vulgarity in their music videos to attract attention and sexual excitement in their viewers. Is pop culture’s goal now to arouse the id in all of us? Is it encouraging our primal instincts to come out and express themselves? This does not seem like a healthy trend in our society. Encouraging aggressive sexuality and X-rated actions to the young viewers who are the primary viewers of mTV, VH1 and other pop culture TV channels seems like a risky thing to do. It makes that fundamental conflict between the id and ego, not so much of a struggle. It empowers the id to satisfy its desires, possibly at the expense of itself and other people.

This Lady Gaga video link below displays eroticism and S&M at the 4:00 minute mark. This exhibition may come off and freaky to some, and exciting to others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA&ob=av2e

Plastic Surgery Obsession

Plastic surgery has transformed from a celebrity fad, to an obsession for some. In our society whose dominant ideologies revolve around physical attractiveness, it is expected that those people who are in the spotlight 24/7 should be picking apart their bodies to make themselves “better”. Granted, if you are a celebrity, you are probably already very good looking. But these people face more pressure than noncelebs to have every feature proportionate and youthful looking. As consumers who buy the magazines and watch the gossip TV, we most likely baulk at their actions and ridicule the botched surgeries. However, we are also the people who scrutinize and compare ourselves to celebrities in the first place. The ideology of America that your outside appearance is the most important and can get you farther in life defines our superficial culture. It has been researched that companies are more prone to hire more attractive candidates. Dr. Gordon Patzer, author of Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Ever Expected, found that “Recent studies document that people blessed with good looks earn about 10 percent more than their average-looking colleagues. They are also more likely to get hired and promoted at work” (Mandell, 2010). There are many research studies that have shown that employers favor attractiveness, and that beautiful people have an easier time with getting what they want. With actual research done to show the extent to which we value physical beauty, it should be expected that this is such an obsessive goal for many people. It is ironic that plastic surgery is used as a means to achieve more physical beauty, yet a large percentage of surgeries have negative outcomes. Heidi Montag, an MTV star, decided to get 10 procedures done all in the same day. She totally transformed her body, and has received much criticism for this, and actually looks older than she did before.

So is this culture originating from us, the people? Are we encouraging this bodily deformation? Yes, I believe we are. We value material things like money, possessions, and physical looks above all things. My question is, are these the kind of ideas we want to project upon our future generations and teach our kids that these things are what we should revolve our lives around?

Mandell, L. J. (2010, May 18). Do pretty girls get all the jobs? Retrieved March 27, 2012, 

               from Aol Jobs website: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/05/18/pretty-girls-get- 

              all-the-jobs/

Jersey Shore

MTV is a media network with the reputation of creating pop culture. Young generations tune into the channel for hours everyday to watch new music, celebrity documentaries, and reality shows. One of the most culture shocking shows over the past couple of years has been Jersey Shore. This is a reality show based in Jersey that follows a group of young Italian men and women living in one house together. The label “guido” is now a popular name for fashion forward, metrosexual Italian men and women. There are several ways in which this show has blossomed as an influence on the young American public. 

GTL: Gym, tanning, laundry. A schedule pertinent to everyday life. Young men and women have become more obsessed with pumping iron for washboard abs, achieving fake, orange tanned skin, and of course, doing laundry before they go out to the clubs every night in their flashiest, blinged out shirts. 

Hairstyles: Jersey Shore has taught us that the blow dryer is the most important tool for male hair styling, while a huge bottle of hairspray is most important to the females. Jersey Shore has taught us to tease our hair half a foot high, and gel it into large spikes. However, the Snooki hairstyle has fortunately not taken over as a huge fad among the public. 

Clubbing: The biggest part of the show each week is showing the group out clubbing and partying. They drink excessively, dance on tables, and get in fist fights more than occasionally. The public watches in awe at this unique group of reality TV celebrities and their unreal lifestyle. This show can be seen as a disgrace to American life. We are so obsessed with this portrayed lifestyle that even young kids idolize Jersey Shore! There are so many other media choices but America chooses to tune into this disorder as their entertainment pastime. How many more seasons will Jersey Shore continue before we get bored and need an even crazier show to watch as an outlet from our mundane lives?

The Current "Skinny" Obsession

Another craze sweeping celebrity life is anorexia-like dieting. This is the apparent notion that it is attractive to weigh 90 pounds. This trend has become very common among both young and older celebrities. Celebs who have been toned and healthy in the past now resemble skeletons. 
My victim of criticism is Nicole Ritchie. This picture above depicts perfectly the ugly transformation taking place between many women. Why is this obsession occurring? Self esteem issues are rising with the media portraying beauty as skinny. Super models have always been idolized by many women, and their stick-thin bodies are a large influence them. With the obesity rates climbing in America, this trend may be a reverse reaction to that. Although obesity is common among the public, this emaciated look is now taking over with celebrities. Because the public looks so highly of the celebrity world by purchasing all the gossip magazines and watching E! TV, it is depressing that the normal world now is being told that they should be sickly thin, because their favorite celebrities now are. However, when celebrities get "too skinny" the media criticizes them for that as well. This sends confusing messages to fans who do have body image issues. Girls and women want to have attractive bodies but the media is not giving them the right encouragement. I would say people need to find a healthy medium where they feel good and look good. People focus too much on the number the scale tells them, rather than working hard to build muscle and be fit, which in my opinion is most attractive.
This craze is a harmful one that is bound to continue to have a negative influence on the public, especially young girls. The only way to stop this madness is for the media and celebrities to encourage healthy eating and exercise, and promoting overall active lifestyles. 

Tattoo Craze

This image right here, is a work of art if I have ever seen one. Travis Barker is my first subject of pop culture critique. His obsession with the art of tattoo has brought him onto my page. Barker is A-list celebrity based on his drummer part in several punk rock bands including Blink 182 and Boxcar Racer, and also as a music producer. He is idolized by many people as an unconventional artist, as many artists are. Travis has tattoos across his entire body, up to his neck. Barker does have more visible tattoos than many other celebrities, but the imagery etched across him seems to play a huge role in his reputation. Tattoos are no longer societal taboos. Multiple tattoos generates a sense of free spirit, nonconformism, and edginess. I think many fans find his tattoos very attractive and appealing. This draws fans to a positive attitude towards tattoos and hence makes the hobby more popular. When regular people see their favorite celebrity boasting a new art piece, they might feel more inclined to imitate. Barker is in just the right niche of the celeb industry to give his tattoos good reputation. Musicians can pretty much be tattooed from head to toe without losing appeal to the media. Because he is a famous musician, he already gives off the tone of modern, vogue and trendsetting, which are adjectives that can be synonymous with tattoos. I think this is why fans find his ink so appealing. In any case, Travis Barker’s tattoos are the quintessence of “cool”.