Have you ever gotten a chance to watch the show Glee? Glee starts of with the beginning of another school year; high school cheerleaders doing their routine and the jocks throwing a kid into a dumpster. (Pilot) I personally was not interested in the show at all. When I used to see previews of Glee during commercials I would immediately change it. I thought it would just be another show about high school students doing their musical performance but later, I decided to give the show a chance. After I watched “Glee” I realized I was wrong in thinking the show would have the same connection with The High School Musical Movies. I figured the show would be like the musical movies because of the fact that the movies and Glee have the same similarities. They both have the same high school background and musical performance. But Glee is different that The High School Musical Movies, Glee has more realistic drama like a real high school has such as pregnancy in the students, couples problem, jealousy and so on. While watching the pilot of Glee, I came across with the question, “Why do high schools students relate to the show Glee?” So I decided to pursue my question and research about how real high school students relate and connect with Glee.
Before I get started researching my question, I first needed to learn more about Glee. I went online to get information about Glee. I used the most common engine source, Google. I typed “Glee Reviews” on Google, and the first one that caught my attention was Entertainment Weekly. Ken Tucker writes, “It’s the show of Will (Matthew Morrison) a high school Spanish teacher who takes over a pathetic glee club filled with misfits.” (Entertainment Weekly 1). The information that Ken Tucker gave us about ...
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...ormation on why does high school students tend to relate to the show Glee. The information that I found made me look further on other question that I have in mind like, “Why did Glee become so famous?” However, relating to humor I found some interesting information dealing with Glee and real high school students, on how humor revolves in both the show and the real students. If we take a close notice we can understand why high school students tend to relate to the show. Of the fact that in some cases real high school students can connect with what the student in the show are going through. In Glee almost it is a possibility that real students can relate to the show and think it is funny as well too because of all the humor that the show has with their won character. By far I am now a Glee fan. I think it is such a great show and we can relate to it in many ways.
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth is a book by Alexandra Robbins which summarizes the story of seven different teenagers that have many different problems, which many of todays teenagers also have. I found myself having many similarities to the teenagers in the story, for example, when with her group Whitney, the popular bitch, thinks “You didn't day that when we were alone, but now that you're in front of a group you do” (Robbins 21). I can relate to this because I feel as though many people are pressured to say or do things they normally wouldn't whenever they are with their group or ‘clique’. Robbins has this idea that the freaks and geeks, or “cafeteria fringe” will someday grow up and use what they are criticized for to become more successful than the other peopler people. She calls this the ‘Quirk Theory’ (Robbins page 11). This helped me to learn that right now, in high school, not being ‘popular’ may seem like the end of the world, but the reality of it is that after these four years, it wont even matter, but what will be important is how you learned to grow as a person and the true friendships that were made. This makes me want to focus more on my education and learning to grow as a person instead of focusing on how many friends I have or who I sit with at lunch, because truthfully it wont matter once high school is over.
Erikson’s Stages of Development was seen most widely in Freaks and Geeks. Whenever there is a mix of freshmen age children in with older adolescents, there is always that awkward stage. When I was in the 9th grade, the school system I was in was still utilizing the junior high school and we would not enter high school until the ninth grade. The year that Freaks and Geeks was to take place, I myself was in the 9th grade, so I sympathized with the show somewhat. Sam and Rory from Gilmore Girls had trust from their mothers, where on the other hand, Danny from geeks and Lane, from Gilmore, dealt with mistrust because of how their mothers were. Danny’s mother expected him to drop everything and get what she needed, even if that meant missing school, and Lane’s mother did not allow her to
Freaks and Geeks gives a new and realistic portrayal of adolescence in a nice small package of a television show. It strays from the media stereotype of adolescent by showing adolescent life in a new light. It reveals the lesson that many adolescents have to learn to become a mature adult, the choices they have to make that will affect their life in a major or minor way, and the struggles many endured that makes them take rash decision or lost in what they do. Freaks and Geeks is a show that I recommend to many who are sick of stereotypical shows that media broadcast on television.
Obsession is something that gets thrown around a lot, to describe the way someone may feel about something. Obsession can be described by the fans of Odessa as it relates to its high school football team, so much so it is unhealthy. Sustaining the ambitions of not only themselves but the alumni and town of Odessa, Texas is a lot to ask from a young adult. There is a continuous pattern in Friday Night Lights that passion is not always a good thing. The town’s expectations of the team cause the school personnel and coaches to sacrifice the players’ overall wellbeing in return for a successful football team. Although the town of Odessa is unified and sustained by its love of Texas High School Football, Friday Night Lights provides insight into how damaging a fans obsession can be.
The Secret of Seinfeld’s Humor: The significance of the Insignificant, an article written by Jorge Gracia briefly outlines what the author believes to be the origin of the humour with which the popular television show Seinfeld achieved such broad based success. A show that embraced the ordinary of everyday life, while atypically avoiding the mainstay of violence and sex of most of today’s popular visual media and culture. Gracia (19??) begins his article by posing the question “how, can a show that deals with ordinary, everyday occurrences have such wide appeal”? This is a very general question that could be analysed in any number of ways. The author however, suggest one possible answer. That a show such as Seinfeld is effective because its humour is based upon the dramatic tradition of the comedy and tragedy.
The movie The Breakfast Club is a perfect example of peer relationships in the adolescent society. It shows the viewer some of the main stereotypes of students in high school you have a jock, a nerd, the weirdo, a rebel, and a prep. Over the course of a Saturday detention the different types of peers learn a lot about one another by hearing what each one has done to get into Saturday detention as well as why they chose to do it.
On a Wednesday night I saw Texas State Theatre and Dance Department's performance of A Chorus Line. The main plot of the musical entails the audition of 17 dancers for several Broadway roles on the chorus line. However, during their auditions the director Zach asks for personal stories of each dancer's life. Though the plot of this musical is seemingly simple in its twist on the traditional audition, it explores themes that reveal the human experience, the search for individuality, and the sense of self.
Over the years, several cartoon series have been chosen as the object of study for different researches. The world most famous animated family, The Simpsons, has been studied by Meskill (2007) focusing on their discourses about education. The author concluded that the satirical portrayal of schools in The Simpsons- teaching, learning, administrating- is brilliant in the cleverly suggested conflicts it portrays and provokes. These contradictions, according to Meskill, can illuminate the humanistic side of the society in which we live and help to improve its institutions. Another cartoon series that has received many critiques is South Park. Schulzke (2012) analysed the episode “The F Word” to illustrate how the show uses sophisticated strategies
...the audience and parents that tragedy that could come to them. I think it is not only a lesson for teenagers, but a lesson for parents as well. Time, effort, and energy put into this play were definitely worthwhile, in my opinion. I believe all their practice, rehearsal, and hard work paid off.
Imagine being alone with no friends and no one to talk to. Now, place yourself in a location where you are surrounded by closed tight-knit groups where acceptance from those groups is a challenge to obtain. Then, picture yourself back when you were in high school, but this time, apply the image you have created for yourself. Do you wish for acceptance? Or friendship? Do you feel confident in taking the challenges that high school will bring? High school has a significant impact on an individual’s development. Whether it is their personality or behavior, an individual who goes through high school can see changes in their characteristics. A common stereotype in high school that is largely portrayed in the media is the existence of cliques. Cliques can give an individual a sense of belonging or a sense of betrayal. These two behaviors are commonly seen with the acceptance or rejection from these groups. An immediate result from these two actions is a change in morale or confidence for that individual. Cliques exist in high school due to individual conformity. An individual conforms to the group in order to feel accepted or to feel secured. Groups or cliques in high school have a significant negative effect on an individual’s development of characteristic and personality and the reasons as to why individuals join these types are not justified.
As discussed in class, discourse is our communication. Furthermore, author James Paul Gee of “What is Literacy” defines discourse as an “identity kit” (Gee, “What is Literacy?”). Gee includes discourse as a combination of one’s thinking, acting, and language that is associated to a group of others. There are different kinds of discourses; two discourses that will be discussed in this paper are primary and secondary. Primary discourse is the “oral mode developed in the primary process of enculturation” (Gee, “What is Literacy?”). The primary discourse in this paper is the first-person experience I had in high school. Secondary discourse is “developed in association with and by having access to and practice with these secondary institutions” (Gee, “What is Literacy?”). School, work, and church are examples of secondary institutions. The secondary discourse in the paper is attending the University of Arkansas and writing this paper. According to Gee, “secondary discourse can serve as a meta-discourse to critique the primary discourse…” (“What is Literacy?”). Throughout this process I wanted to know if high school is destined. Was my high school experience awful or is there a sociological reasoning behind the events? With that, I have researched the social construct and applied it to my previous experiences enabling me to truly discover if high school is destined.
Stack, Tim. "Glee Triumphs With the Power Of Madonna." Entertainment Weekly. 7 May 2010: 10-11. Print.
Before Miles went to his new school his father said, “No drugs. No drinking. No cigarettes.” (Green 10 pdf) Miles’ father warned him very heavily about not doing drugs, however, he did drugs in high school before. When Miles goes to high school, he gets lost in the world of peer pressure and he end up doing drugs, drinking alcohol and smoking. In the real world, many high school students tend to fall into the traps of peer pressure and they end up drinking and doing drugs illegally. This story captures the real life perspective of high school with peer pressure, stress and troubles, instead of the fake, “all smiles” perspective of high school that some movies, such as High School Musical, portrays. Additionally, the main character, Alaska, relates to the world because she is a girl that lives a hard life and is depressed on the inside, yet she still manages to have a smile on her face. Many people in the world are going through very hard times, however, they still manage to be happy or they try to give the appearance that they’re happy. Personally, I can relate to Alaska Young’s situation, after losing my grandma and uncle to illness a couple of months ago, I am faced with tremendous amounts of depression and deep sadness. However, on the outside, I tend to have a smile on my face and I don’t show others how I truly feel deep down on the inside. Alaska does this for a while and she slowly
Humor has been the source of entertainment throughout history. Today humor is practiced in movies, plays, songs, television shows and radio. Humor has brought fame and fortune to those who have mastered its power.
High school. I never realized it would bring so many changes. As I walked on to campus my freshman year, my mindset was the same as it was in eighth grade; the young are invincible. And although I was excited to come to high school I had many fears. Would the classes be too hard, would I make new friends, what could I become involved in, and most of all -- what if I get lost? All of these fears eventually subsided and I, along with all of you, found the right classes and the right teachers. We all made new friends. We all got involved in something. During my freshman year, innocence surrounded me and although eventually my shell would crack, not until this year have I broken through. This year I decided that it is time to soar on my own. Graduation is the beginning of a new flight for all of us, the class of 1997.