Heroes and Celebrities

I am going to be focusing on a specific T.V. series the Walking Dead and who the hero is in this show. I am only focusing on this show because there really isn’t a specific heroic or celebrity figure with zombies in pop culture as abroad. When you think of zombies you think of the absolute opposite of heroes or celebrities.  When it comes to zombies in pop culture heroic figures, I think of heroes in movies that fight zombies and save other people’s lives. This is why I chose the Walking Dead star Rick Grimes, he displays many acts of courage and heroic efforts to save the travelers he is with.

            Rick deals with a lot of emotional problems during the zombie apocalypse but remains strong, saves lives, and helps his group move forward. Rick is courageous, brave, selfless, and determined; he is always putting his life on the line to save the rest of the group. In one episode the eldest person actually mentioned to Rick that they wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for him, to me Rick is a true hero always displaying courageous acts for the good of the group.  No matter what has happened to Rick including his wife dying, his best friend, and the birth of his new baby, he has been able to stay strong and persevere to keep his group alive and hopeful. Rick is an inspiration to the whole group and makes them stronger and hopeful through all they have been through.

            Ricks great example of heroic acts could be viewed in other ways than just a zombie apocalypse, the symbolic meaning of his actions could inspire others in different situations to persevere and overcome any and all obstacles necessary. If I was ever put into a position fighting for my life, I would be blessed to have someone like Rick helping me through. He is courageous, caring, and willing to sacrifice his life to save the group and the only reward he wishes is the safety of his people.

Rituals and Stereotypes analysis

In this analysis I will be discussing stereotypes and rituals as well as relating them to zombies in pop culture. Stereotypes are generalizations or ideas about a particular group of people that other people classify them as, based on their perception even though the perception is not true amongst the whole group of people (Changing Minds Org, 2013, par.1). A ritual is “an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner” (Merriam-Webster, 2013, sect. 3).

Stereotypes among zombies are present in pop culture; most people’s perception of a zombie is a slow, mindless, flesh-eater. However no one really knows what a zombie is because there has never been one, for now it is a fictional character in society. For all we know zombies could be somewhat intelligent, fast, and enjoy vegetables. The most popular stereotypical view of zombies is the mindless, flesh-eater which we see in our society; such as the TV series the Walking Dead which happens to be my favorite zombie related entertainment. However stereotypes can be positive or negative, this particular stereotype has a neutral effect. Mainly because zombie attributes don’t really matter, they are fictional characters only for the entertainment of society.

Rituals however are not present related to zombies in pop culture, but I am still going to provide an overview of rituals and a few examples. A great example of a ritual is when religious people pray before every meal or attend church regularly. My family practices this ritual; they attend our Baptist church regularly and pray before every meal as well as before going to bed at night. Another example of a ritual is Thanksgiving, at least for a majority of American families, people gather every year on this day and feast with family and friends. I believe rituals play an important role in society for different cultures, depending on where you come from and what believe in reflects what rituals you may practice or participate in. 

References

Changing Minds Organization. (2013). Stereotypes. Retrieved on April 19, 2013 from http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/stereotypes.htm

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Ritual. Retrieved on April 19, 2013 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ritual?show=0&t=1366681801

Written Analysis Week 1 (Popular Beliefs, myths, and Icons)

Zombies in pop culture are becoming very popular among society, some examples are the TV series Walking dead and zombies on the video game Call of Duty. Zombies are portrayed as a deceased human who has come back to life as a mindless flesh eater, usually from the bite of another zombie. With most beliefs they are generally slow, react mainly to noising, and can only be exterminated by destroying the brain. Another belief or myth about Zombies is that they could be what brings an end to the world, in other words a zombie apocalypse. According to Dr. Steven Scholzman of Harvard Medical school says that it is possible for humans to contract a virus that changes them into something that resembles a zombie (2013, par. 7). He also stated that there are actually people who spend their time planning for zombie attacks, from teaching their kids to fight zombies to stocking a secret location with supplies to stay alive during an apocalypse.  

            Zombies aren’t really much of an iconic figure but they are very popular in society today as I mentioned earlier, you see them in movies, books, TV shows, Halloween themes/costumes, commercial advertisements, and even merchandise. Zombies are well known to our society and play a major role in the entertainment industry; zombies have created many popular works of art such as the Walking Dead, Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, and many more.   

 

 Reference 

 Scholzman, S. (2013). Zombie Apocalypse. Retrieved on April 14, 2013 from http://press.discovery.com/us/dsc/programs/zombie-apocalypse/

Pop Culture Icons

The three pop culture icons that I chose are Michael Jordan, Spiderman, and Bill Gates; all three have been a part of my life as well as the rest of the American culture.

 Michael Jordan is a huge American Icon, arguably the greatest player to ever have played the game of basketball. Michael Jordan is my favorite basketball player of all time, I still remember watching him as a kid growing up. My father is a big MJ fan as well he's made me watch games from his younger days, and I gotta say he played with more intensity and heart than any other player I've ever seen. When people discuss how great other players are in the NBA they compare them to Michael Jordan and the level that he played it; he has won more championships than any other player that has played in the NBA. Jordan played college ball at the University of North Carolina where he won a national championship his freshman year and college player of the year his sophomore and junior year. He then went on to be drafted to the Chicago Bulls as the third overall pick in the NBA draft after his junior year. During his time in Chicago he won 6 NBA championships and numerous awards such as MVP, scoring title, finals MVP, all star team selections, as well as rookie of the year, some of these awards he has won more than multiple times. Michael Jordan is considered a God when it comes to basketball because he is the greatest basketball player of all time.

Spiderman is another great pop culture icon, and happens to be my favorite super hero. Ever since I was a little kid I loved spiderman, from the t.v. shows and movies to comic books and merchandise. I actually have a pretty large collection of Marvel spiderman comics and currently own all of the movies. Spiderman devotes his time to fighting crime with the mask on and when it's off he's Peter Parker a wimpy kid, bright, and imaginative but pretty isolated. This is why I think Spiderman is one of the greatest iconic super hero's, he was the super hero that people believed could be them. Spiderman was first introduced by Marvel comic books in 1962 and Marvel has continued to make Spiderman comics ever since, Spiderman even branched off to television and the big screen. Spiderman has won many awards for the comic books and movies throughout it's history and has become one of the most popular super hero's in American culture.

Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world and it is well known, his impact on society is the reason I chose him as one of my pop culture icons. Bill Gates has influenced my life through technology such as the computer program, Microsoft windows. Gates founded Microsoft which is one of the largest computer companies in the world. I only buy Microsoft products such as Xbox, windows 8, Microsoft office, windows phone, and my newest toy, Microsoft Surface. With his wealth he has founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with more than 28 billion dollars dollars to support initiatives throughout the globe in the areas of health and learning (Bellis,2013, par. 8). Bill Gates is one of the greatest computer programers of all time as well as one of the most successful people of all time. Bill Gates has changed society as a whole by helping the world move forward with technological advances that benefit society in various ways such as health and learning. 

Reference

Bellis, M. (2013). Bill Gates Biography and History. Retrieved on April 11, 2013 from http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Bill_Gates.htm

You can Still Dunk in the Dark

Pop culture is based on the culture of the people, such as ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images, and any other phenomena that are in the "mainstream" of any given culture. Sometimes pop culture is well known and other times its is limited to small groups, localities, and even individuals (Browne, P. & Browne, R., 2005. pg. xi). Western culture is among the more well known pop cultures because the western culture is heavily influenced by mass media. People use pop culture to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream from having the hottest item on the market to talking about popular current events.
Pop cultures relevance to business is extremely important because it is the main stage for almost all business's.  Other than current events, business's basically create pop culture through marketing and advertising, they control and set trends. Business's also take advantage of pop culture through current events as well, a good example is this past years Super Bowl. During the Super Bowl there was a power outage and the popular cookie company Oreo used this event to promote their product. The following image is the ad Oreo tweeted shortly after the power outage.

During the time the "live" ad was posted it was timely and somewhat relevant to America's most watched show the Super Bowl. 

References 

Browne, P. & Browne, R.B.  (2005). Profiles of popular culture. Madison, WI.

  **Picture from Google pictures