Research Blog 15

The most illuminating parts of my research project were understanding what a subculture is and what subcultures do.  I had no idea that there were actual websites online that had people living a different live inside them.  Inside subcultures you can be anyone you want to be.  The people who were part of mugglenet.com definately lived up to this.  They had a love for Harry Potter and lived in their muggle world and their world of Harry Potter.  It was interesting to me that there are so many different subcultures online and that more people are a part of them than I had realized. 

The most frustrating was finding all the information through the website.  Honestly this class was extremely frustrating to me.  The book was hard to understand so therefore the concepts were hard to understand.  I tried coming to class reguarly at the beginning of the semester but honestly things were never explained clearly and I felt that it was a waste of time considering I felt that I could teach myself the course concepts better than the book or instructor was teaching the course concepts.  I am sad because I thought this class was going to be interesting, but instead it was a huge let down.  At the beginning of the semester we would spend the first half hour of class going over just how to USE the blog, when we could have been going over more popular culture concepts.  The idea of the blog may not be a bad one, but what I do not understand is why you do not just use blackboard's discussion board.  This way you can have blogs on there and also be able to see every persons responses to others.  Basically, you made us spend a ton of time blogging and responding, instead of actually teaching us the concepts of popular culture.  It was not my job to tell you who I responded to, technically that is your job to find.  You are the one who made is so difficult on yourself to figure when people were blogging and who they were responding to, when you could have just let us use blackboard and you could have found the responses easily yourself and they wouldn't have been tampered with by other students deleting them, or just not understanding how to post the blogs accurately.  We would spend so much time talking about gaming, porn, or other absurd things in class that is discusted me.  Really, could we have just had notes and some structure to the class? There was absolutely no real structure or plan for what was going on in our class.

Research Blog 12

My research on the subculture of Harry Potter and the website mugglenet.com is a subculture.  This group of people think differently than other people.  Especially when it comes to Harry Potter.  They are completely submersed in what is going on in the wizarding world and they are engulfed in facts and unknowns of what the next Harry Potter movie is going to be about. There are discussions and postings from many different people and there is also a link to a facebook group with more people who are discussing Harry Potter and living in the subculture of Harry Potter.  These people come from all across the world and come from different backgrounds but they all have the same thing in common, their obsession with Harry Potter and the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Reading Blog 9

I live in a very small town 30 minutes west of Toledo. I have definately noticed that the smaller businesses here suffer in comparison to the larger more commercialized businesses in the larger towns next to mine.  The main thing I have noticed is that our grocery store suffers the most.  Our grocery store actually was shut down for a couple of years because business was bad.  The town next to ours had opened a Walmart and the goods were so much less expensive there than they were at the local small grocery store.  The grocery store did manage to get on its feet and open again but it has still be struggling comparet to Walmart.  I personally try to support the local store as much as possible because it gives people in my community jobs and it is much more convinent than drive 15 minutes to go to walmart.  I think saving in gas saves me the same amount that I would be saving in groceries anyways. 

This chapter talked about vacations of two locations.  One being in nature and one being the expensive route.  My family would definately choose the nature location.  We love to canoe and hike.  Generally when we go on vacation it is to a spot that is peaceful and quiet where we can enjoy leaisure activities with one another.  The atmostphere of being in nature would be the vacation that my family would enjoy the most.

Reading Blog 9 Member responses

Samantha Thompson and Eric.

Reasearch Blog 11

I have not yet acclimated myself to the website.  I am still a little unsure of what I am going to present to the website and how I am going to do so.  I will reblog once I have done this.  I also need to figure out how to go about being a member on my website.

Reading Blog 7 Replies

Sarah and Dustin

Reading Blog #7

When watching the movie Bamboozled I noticed that there was orientalism in it.  It was about Afican Americans only being treated as slaved to the entertainment industry.  They were made to dance and sing and perform for the people.  Representation was also used in this movie.  This movie represented African Americans as being used for one thing which was entertiainment.  They viewed them as being funny and unintelligent characters.

Research Blog Part 10

For my research site on mugglenet.com, the term that relates the most from the chapter is identity.  Identity is displayed in my site in many ways.  People can relate themselves to the characters of Harry Potter and identify with one another with their love for this phenomenon. People who are fans of Harry Potter tend to all be alike and identifieable with one another.  They may be outcasted as "nerds" but they all have similarities and tend to be the same.  The fans on this website are the biggest I've seen and have the most knowledge of Harry Potter, they are really intuned to the phenomenon and take it to a different level.  They are all similar and identify with one another.  They form relationships with one another and with the characters of the movies as they read and interact with what is going on.  Interpellation can also be used through this website as the members get to interact with one another and get to get on a different level with the phenomenon of Harry Potter.

reading blog 6

I feel that throughout grade school and college instructors are trying to teach you how to perform for your future and in your life.  In grade school they teach you about being on time, listeing, respecting your peers and elders, and doing what is right and being honest about your work.  Then you get in college and it is time to really dig into your eduction and learn about what you will be doing in your career and for the rest of your life.  Although, they put you through all of these general education courses that people hate taking and hate learning about because ultimately it is wasting time and money that could be spent toward learning about your career and future life.

Member Responses to reading blog 6

Carrie, and Samantha Thompson

Second Member Response Reading Blog 5

Samantha Thompson.

Reply To Reading Blog 5

I responded to Sarah's Popculture Stuff blog.

Research Blog 8

There are a couple different advertisements on this website.  The first one I noticed was an Olay advertisement that you can click on and it takes you to their website.  There is also a Ford advertisement that is clickable and takes you to their website.  I saw a Disney advertisement as well, this advertisement promoted Disney's next movie.  There is a muggle shop that sells all Harry Potter items.  This website is corporate.  The design, layout, and advertisements are all high-end and well though out.   All of the items sold are directly coorelated to coorperate Universal Studios, which is where the Harry Potter movies are filmed.  The advertisements do not bother visitors, they do not interfere with viewing the website.

Research Blog 7

The administers of this website are not too heavy handed in policing the content.  The website is based off of blogs and what Harry Potter fans want to put on the website.  The content of this website is organized in blog format.  It is completely just lists of blogs and discussions of Harry Potter.  There are tabs of different types of entertainment for Harry Potter fans.  It does not say how you would get banned.  I am assuming if you released personal information of cast members.  Or if you violated privacy policies.  Participants can create any discussions or blogs on this website.  It is an top down approach.  The website creaters have most of the power and create most of the discussions and the multi media on the website.  The users contribute afterwards.

Reading Blog 4 Second Response

I responded to Eric and his body building website.

Reading Blog 4 Response 1

I responded to Samantha Thompson.

Reading Blog #4

http://www.glidden.com/index.do

The Glidden Paint website really nailed me as a consumer.  It has so many way to interact and it is very technilogical.  You can browse the top paints, and even go into a tab that allows you to paint a room so you can visualize what a room would really look like if it was painted this particular color.  It tell you how to paint the correct way and it answers many of the frequently asked questions of people who are going to paint their homes.  It is creating a lifestyle and showing you how painting can change your home and your lifestyle.  They use packaging by having the website have every tool you need to find the correct paint color and be inspired to paint your home. 

It caters to me as a customer because if i was going to paint my home I would want to go to a website to get inspired of how I wanted my room to look.  Painting your room is not just about putting a new color on the wall.  It is about the lifestyle you want to portray in your home and it is about how you want to feel in your new home.  Color is inspiring and makes people feel certain way.  This website helps you figure out how you want to feel in your own home.

Research Blog 6

On this site there are videos and pictures of Harry Potter and other characters.  The thing I found most interesting was that there are actually people who made Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tee shirts and they are selling them on the site.  The people on this site portray themselves as muggles and talk about anything Harry Potter.  For instance, there was a recent blog on the Universal Studios and how they are expanding the Harry Potter world.  They are updated on anything Harry Potter.   The their coherts they are representing themselves as knowledgable and amazing fans.  To the vistors of this site, they may be taken back and not know how to comprehend all of the Harry Potter information being shared on this site.

Research Blog 5

The overall context on this subculture website is Harry Potter.  It is completely embursed in anything dealing with Harry Potter.  The bloggers names, the topics, the blogs, the conversations, and the pictures are all Harry Potter.  You must have a general understanding of Harry Potter lingo to know what is going on inside the subculture.  The historical context in this subculture is present.  Harry Potter has been a part of our popular culture for a decade now, and it is still continuing.  The last movie is to be presented in November and then there will even be one after that because the final book is in two parts.  I cannot think of many cultural myths that are present here.  Many people are not fans of Harry Potter but everyone in this subculture are huge fans of what Harry Potter represents.

Some lifestyles that are being promotoed are those of good and evil.  Harry Potter is a classic tail of the bad guys vs. the good guys.  In this subculture there are people that are for the good guys, Harry Potter, and for the bad guys, Lord Voldemort.  There is not much connotation and denotation going on in this subculture.  It is pretty straight forward.  It is for fans of Harry Potter and people who enjoy and know the Harry Potter world. 

http://www.mugglenet.com/

Activity 3.2

These shows are different than most other shows. They inform the public and use their information to show a broad spectrum of different people to watch the show. They are funny and this draws entertainment and makes people actually want to watch. It is different than you average news show because in a regular news broadcasting it is full of information but this information is generally not entertaining. These shows entertain and make the audience want to be informed on the daily news and what is going on in our culture. They are similar because both the regular news broadcasting and The Daily Show both give you information and let you know what is going on in the world and in our culture. The main difference is that shows like The Daily show give you this information by adding humor and entertainment. The average news program seems to be dull and boring, and almost makes your mood worse. The Daily show is alive and entertaining and makes you feel happier. It is less serious than the news broadcasting.

Research Blog 4

I have choose to research the world of Harry Potter.  Harry Potter is such a large part of our popular culture.  It is one subculture that has now lasted a decade and is continuing to be extremely popular.  The site I have been looking at is http://www.mugglespace.com/.  This site is full of Harry Potter extremists.  They discuss and in ways act out the wizarding world.  It is pretty interesting to read their conversations to one another.  This site is basically the myspace of the Harry Potter world.  When I first got onto the site what drew my eye the most was the color scheme.  It is a dark and intense color scheme that reflects the movies of Harry Potter.  There are also a ton of images of the characters in the Harry Potter movies.  This must help the members discussions.

Research Blog #3

For my research blog I am going to be researching the Harry Potter subculture.  The site I will use is http://www.mugglenet.com/

Blog Assignment # 2-Hegemony

Monarchy represents hegemony because for a long period of time people in England for example believed that they should follow leadership of the monarchy just because these people were born into royalty.  Eventually they did rebel against the monarchy, but for a long time there was an unexplainable power towards the monarchy with little to no resistance.

In the show House, Dr. House is an image of hegemony because he has the respect and power over all the other doctors.  He doesn't force people to follow him, nor does he care if they do.  He just leads and does his job in the medical world.  People are afraid of acting out and contradicting House because I think they are afraid that they will be wrong, and House is never wrong.

Your elders are a good example of hegemony as well.  You are always told throughout your life to respect and listen to your elders.  In my family we never talked back to my grandparents because they are the head of our family and our leaders.  There was never really an explaination why they are in charge, they just were and we always went along with it.  Not to say that is a bad thing, they earned their rights to be in charge of our family, and they created our family.  They never forced us to respect them or to follow them, we just did because they are our elders.

Sub Culture Research Blog 2

I think figuring out which subculture I wanted to research was relatively simple.  I thought about what I personally was a fan of in popular culture and what I knew a lot of people would be interested in.  Harry Potter has been popular now for a decade and has been a huge part of our popular culture today.  I knew this is why I wanted to research Harry Potter as a subculture.  I personally love Harry Potter, nerdy as that may be.  I have read and watched the movies numerous times and I knew that researching this topic would be fun and interesting for me.

I expect by researching this subject I will find many people who are much more involved in the subculture than I am.  I also expect to learn a lot about why people love Harry Potter and why it is that this subculture has been lasting for as long as it has.  Before going into this project I feel like I already have a good background knowledge of this subculture since I have been a fan myself and have read and watched the movies.  Some difficulties I may encounter could be the issue of not enough broad topics to look into.  People who are fans of Harry Potter tend to have similar views and I do not really know how in depth topics could be.  I think that this subculture research will definately help me have awareness of what I like and do not like about Harry Potter and it will teach me many things that I may not know about the characters and the plot lines of the books and movies.

List of Subcultures

http://www.mugglenet.com/ -harry potter sub culture

http://www.hisgoldeneyes.com/ -twilight sub culture

http://justinbieberfansite.blogspot.com/ -justin bieber sub culture

http://www.youtube.com/ -youtube sub culture

Binary Opposition

When I was thinking about the term binary opposition, what stuck in my head mostly was the example of "us-them" that they use in the text. There are always two different sides, and whatever side an individual happens to be a part of is always the "good" side, where as the other side is always considered "bad", the opposition. The best example I could think of with this is Walmart vs. small businesses. Walmart is not an evil company yet people who own small businesses and are on the opposing side believe that Walmart's way of selling goods is unfair. While Walmart's goods may be inexpensive and helpful to customer's budgets, the opposing small businesses can't compete.

Authenticity

From reading the chapter my take on authenticity is that it is a way of making something genuine and valuable in popular culture. I chose the Tiffany's diamond engagement ring as a symbol of authenticity for various reasons. When people are getting an engagement ring for their significant other they want something that is authentic. For diamond rings, Tiffany's is one of the most stereotyped high class label in today's popular culture. Just for having that little blue box with the name Tiffany's engraved into it people automatically are convinced that what they are about to receive is authentic and original.