Wrestling: Man's Utopia

 "The Hero"
"TheVillain"
The World Wrestling Federation always possessed more than what most people would think. According to Henry Jenkins, in his essay, "Never Trust a Snake," the WWF always attracted fans through narratives and clever plot twists. The WWF constantly featured protagonists and antagonists that people would normally see in a book or novel. Now I use past-tense word choice because the WWF is no more but while it lasted it produced some of the most interesting story lines around. Working class men could come home from a long day at the meat factory and put their feet up to view more bloodshed. Only this kind was fake; and they knew it. Jenkins mentioned that the increased exaggeration and formation of the WWF characters transformed them into cartoon-ish figures, or even 'Invincible Victims.' He goes on to say the viewer could identify with the wrestler and dream that the WWF was a Utopian alternative.
Now if this viewer were actually able to gather up some change and time to go to a wrestling main event, Jenkins claims all emotions would pour out of the individual. Sitting and cheering for his favorite hero or villain really gave a man a reason to go outside his gender binary. Although the performance in the ring could be seen as 'campy,' it did not bother the fans. This was their Utopian world and their chance to get away from the harsh cruelties of their home and work lives. Mr. Jenkins couldn't have said this better when he claims, "Melodramatic wrestling allows working-class men to confront their own feelings of vulnerability, their own frustrations," (RAW 299). For a lot of men, most men, wrestling brought people together.

Women are an object like a Berger?

The thesis John Berger provides in his essay, "Ways of Seeing," is something along the lines of: A woman's presence expresses her own attitude to herself, and defines what can and cannot be done to her. (found in the second paragraph of the excerpt)
A point in passage that interests me heavily is when Berger exclaims how a women appears to men is of 'crucial importance for what is normally thought of as success of her life,' (pg 4). Why this strikes a spark in me is because it is not true at all. The only circumstance it is ever true is when a woman is trying to find a mate. But how does physical appearance matter to a woman's children, her friends or even just random passers-by on the street? Berger said physical appearance matters so much too because they are so self conscious? But isn't everyone a little self conscious about something? However, I completely disagree that a woman won't venture outside because her hair isn't just so or her belt isn't perfectly askew. Next menu item Berger, because I'm not buying this one.
Where Berger does come off strong in the essay is on page six in a well written series of sentences, starting with, "The mirror was often used as a symbol for of the vanity of woman. The moralizing, however, was mostly hypocritical....condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure."
This style is impressive to me because it was a perfect idea expressed so precise. The mirror is the symbol for vanity to women and as painters try to praise the glorious features that women possess by painting them in the nude. This process is supposed to rise their self-esteem up but rather the act slams it down. Well done Mr. Berger.
Definitions that were a little tricky:
emanation (pg4) - to come out from a source
envisaging (pg4) - to have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization 
supine (pg6) - lying on the back or with the face upward
*all definitions according to Merriam-Webster dictionary

Katy Perry: Not just a Teenage Dream

American culture to me is one that is full of happiness, joy and love. Movies and songs constantly mentioning the meaning of love and always having those happy ever after endings.

Most people strive for their own version of happy ever after. Whether it be that perfect dream job, house, car or that perfect dream guy or girl someone wants to spend the rest of their life with. For years, the eminent dream house was one of a white picket fence like the one so prominent on this album cover.

Katy Perry is a huge part of pop culture today. I, myself, love all of her songs. She even broke Michael Jackson's (the King of Pop) record for most songs to hit number one on the Billboard Top 100 list. She is amazing, but enough about my crush on KP.

What I am getting at here is that she almost perfectly depicts the American dream of the current American culture. She has a funny husband, nice house, nice things, but overall a seemingly happy life. It is this album cover with a sunny, blue sky, white picket fence, smart and sassy attitude that many people look up to.