Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Cool Culture

Cool culture, there is a lot to say and even more to think about in terms of cool culture.  Culture is always surrounding us, it is what makes us who we are.  At the time we may not recognize the cool culture that surrounds us, but not long after that time has past we can see the scheme of everything.  Culture is apparent when it is taking place, but it is even more apparent once it has taken place.  Each person may not consciously recognize all aspects of culture that are currently on going, but in retrospect it seems there is much more of which we were unaware.  

Family Guy is a show that consciously mocks today’s culture in all aspects, movies, celebrities, clothing, music, and any other part of culture that you can imagine.  Though this might not be cool culture so to say, it instead mocks cool culture, which makes us question how we view cool culture.  Take for instance one episode of the show titled “Petergeist”, automatically the cultural reference is known, the movie Poltergeist.  Throughout the whole episode the film is referenced but it does not stop at that.  There is a take off of the battle between Gandalf the Grey and the Balrog, when they fall through the Earth while fighting.  Peter tries to build something that is better than his neighbor’s, mocking the American dream.  Carrot Top even appears in the episode and Bob Costas as himself.  Family Guy can always come up with a way to make America aware of the way we find culture to be so cool.

 

There is another type of culture that comes to mind that is found in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  The film gives a small glance into the culture of schools.  Many adults may not really believe there is a culture among youth in school, but there is, and there are cool parts to that culture.  Ferris Bueller is cool in the culture of the high school because he dares to be a rebel against the authority.  He uses his talents to get away with skipping school and just enjoying life.  He uses his computer to change his number of absent days as the principal is actually watching.  The secretary of the school even knows how popular Ferris is; she lists every school subculture that thinks Ferris is “a righteous dude.” Ferris is just cool, even though the film is set in the 1980’s his attitude and his membership of the culture makes it still cool today.

1 comment:

  1. I will refrain from saying any more than that I totally disagree with you on Family Guy, but I think what you say about it is what is perceived by most people.

    What is required to create a cool rebellion like Ferris Bueller's? Sure he can hack a school network, but how do you win over the entire student body? This is the question that his sister can never answer.

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