Hollister/Abercrombie & Fitch__________Route 66 clothing
Will Smith________________________Bruce Willis
Ferrari__________________________Ford
Harry Potter______________________For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Real World____________________Growing Pains
Xbox 360________________________SNES
Avenged Sevenfold__________________Metallica
Drugs___________________________Achievement
Fun____________________________Hard work
Partying_________________________Studying
The biggest trend that can b
e seen from the chart is that we value things that are new and expensive. We have no respect for things that are old. Even though they may be cheap or used they still carry a significance through their previous value. The best example of this is the Harry Potter series of novels as compared to For Whom the Bell Tolls. When reading the novels they both display similar themes throughout. However, Harry Potter is new and popular so it is much more widespread than For Whom the Bell Tolls. Honestly, if I had not been assigned to read the novel in high school I would have never read it. So, it can be concluded that our society is much more materialistic than previous generations. We’ve come to expect the biggest and the best wrapped up in the prettiest packages. We are a culture of shallow and hollow people. My mom always used to tell me this sort of thing and I never really believed her, but it turns out she was right. Once something becomes the slightest bit worn and faded it loses the appeal it held.We are also an indulgent society. We don’t value those that work hard, we put stock in p
eople who can just get by doing the bare minimum. I know this hasn’t changed much over time, but I think it’s odd how so many people place value in having fun over working hard and succeeding. Why does it seem that success is overrated? It’s hard for me to understand that some people can be happy not being the best that they could possibly be. It almost reminds me of a form of self-mutilation. To not live up to your potential may be one of the saddest sights the world has to offer. Many of my friends from Lonoke will never live up to their potential because they don’t expect anything from themselves and would rather coast through life living up to the expectations that Lonoke has to offer, which is none.
You totally ignore any kind of transcendent cool here. Does it not exist for us as a culture any more?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've noticed, but I pretty much don't agree with anything people nowadays think is cool. I think it exists, but I don't think society on a whole is very into the idea of transcendent cool. I don't think our class is a good representative of the norm either.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think that this is right at all. We don't have respect for people in society like this. Yes, there are a lot more people out there now who get by with the bare minimum, but we don't see these people as cool. In fact, I would argue that these kinds of people who are not willing to reach even a fraction of their potential are extremely uncool as 'worthless' should never be a trait associated with coolness. However, although I have such an aversion to the idea, it may be true that it is becoming a cool idea amongst more and more people.
ReplyDeleteBut isn't that what everyone has been saying cool is about all semester? We were supposed to take society's vantage point for this assignment, and for the most part we are shallow.
ReplyDelete