Postmodernism and Popular Culture

S&C tell us that "postmodernism dispels the idea that surface does not contain meaning in itself". Basically, looks matter. Some good proof of that are sororities, specifically how they tend to kick out the fat chicks.

Enlarge? No thanks, I'm good. Try joining "Iota Eta Pi".

I'm not exactly sure why there's such an uproar about that in the first place. Even if sororities weren't private organizations that can choose whoever the hell they want to get drunk with, who are we to kid ourselves that looks don't matter? Last year there were around 11.5 million cosmetic surgeries in the US, and that annual figure is rising, not falling. It's not that we've suddenly become superficial; it's that we're starting to realize we are.

Click to +Enlargenify.

Why? Well, back to the S&C quote: surface contains meaning. People can look on the surfaces of others and extract meaning from that information. You may call it being superficial or even stereotyping, but I call it winning money on national television.

Hooters girl, final answer!

Try it for yourself! What meaning can you this extract from this randomly-generated South Park character?

Yup, totally random.

From the bluetooth headset, we can assume this person is interested in technology. The half-asleep eyes with bags underneath them and the yawn all tell us he's not the type of person who gets much sleep. The shady clothing would make you think he were a high-tech drug dealer were it not for the glasses. Putting it all together, if you were to ask this character how he'd rather spend his time, you can be sure that he's more likely to prefer staying up all night downloading copyrighted material on a stolen Internet connection than personal hygiene such as shaving.

The Mass Media and the Public Sphere

Our media mistresses Marita and Lisa bring our attention to Raymond Williams' theory of "television flow, the concept that viewers' experience of television involves an ongoing rhythm that incorporates interruption". They go on to say that that the continuity television creates despite these interruptions "establishes patters of daily experience in our lives" and that "it provides a different phenomenological experience from that of the computer." If I had read this a few months ago, I wouldn't've believed it, but then again that was during a time where most of my "phenomenological experiences" occurred near computers.
Somewhere between then and now I happened to be on the first floor of my dorm when I heard one of the most famous clock-related sounds of all time.
I stumbled upon the first floor's Jack Bauer night. Needless to say, I spent the next hour watching 24 with a bunch of dormmates, eating pizza and sharing theories during the commercial breaks.

Had I just waited a couple of hours and streamed or Torrented an HDTV version of the episode with the commercials cleanly cropped out of it (hypothetically, of course), I would never have had the same experience. There's way more to high-quality shows like 24 than just the content of the episode. You gotta sit around with a group of friends and experience it together, and that's what I have done every week since.

So yeah, do not phone me (or contact me at all!) from 9 to 10 on a Monday night. That line is dedicated to calling the easter-egg numbers they sneak into many of the episodes.