Chapter 1
Bader-Saye begins to speak about the concept of fear and how it is a natural reaction to the world in today’s society. On page 11, he quotes “We find it hard to quell the fear long enough to analyze how it is being produced.” Pop culture, like Bono shows how fear influences people’s lives, and how being vulnerable to God is what’s important, even when we think fear can manipulate us. Bono states, “The path out of fear is not power but trust, not strength but vulnerability before God. (12)” Soon, the speaker realizes that his own fears are present when he is going to be a new parent. He realized that there is both fear in getting information about how to take care of a baby from professionals and also his own family who have raised
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children before. Fear is magnified when there are no guidelines or structure to follow because everyone wants to know what the right solution is to their problems. Everything in life can cause harm, which leads to fear and on page 13 Bader-Saye notices that “Ordinary living becomes fraught with reminders of extraordinary dangers”. Fear can be reduced, for example buying things to make sure children are safer but the speaker questions what the boundaries are between too much safety and not enough. Limiting children from not doing non-safe “can poison a host of good and life-giving activities,” as stated on page 14, showing that parents need to allow their children to have enough freedom to grow and be more independent. The things that people should be most afraid of, heart disease, cancer, and strokes are not what people are focus their fear on. Compared to the past, society “Is no more dangerous than 50 years ago, 100 years ago, or 1,000 years ago. (15)” The author is trying to point out that people fear more now days about things that were normal to past societies such as “traveling long distance by horse or buggy.” George Gerbner found a correlation between TV violence and fear. Thus, making people believe that what they see on TV will happen in real life. TV and many other social medias take a real life situation and exaggerate it to attract people to buy safety products because “fear is one of our basic instincts, a primal reaction (16).” The news is programmed based on the interest of viewers. Both men and women have fears of “failure and rejection” and the media’s portrayal of each sex enhances insecurities. Terrorism is another real fear that was experienced on 9/11, which caused people to look for a new presidential candidate who promised safety. Religion also uses fear, for example on page 20, “Fear of hell and fear of the sword have long been favorite tools of evangelicalism.” The main thing this chapter covers is how to acknowledge fear without letting it dominate people’s lives. Firstly, I think it’s sad that fear is something that is present in the world today because God didn’t purposefully create a “scary” world, but people have free choice and there are natural disasters that are unavoidable. Fear manipulates people to act differently than they usually would and has caused me to have unnecessary anxiety about most situations. The speakers fear about his child must have been extreme because he couldn’t even trust his family or professionals who are experts in what they do but I wonder did he ever go to God with his concerns? People, like me, are uncomfortable without knowing the right answer to problems, but like raising a child there aren’t always right answers and I think that’s ok because that’s where individuality and growth happen. I think it’s a little ironic that Christians find security in their “safety stuff” but not more in God. As a child I felt that my parents were too overprotective but now that I have grown up I realize why they were so protective. My Mom feared the most for my safety but that shows that fear can be a positive thing because it kept me safe. It’s eye opening to me that my fears, like the book stated are not what are expected. The top causes of death. The few times that I have watched any real-life crime TV, I wasn’t able to sleep because I had the fear that if that could happen to anyone, it could happen to me. What I didn’t realize is the way that the media spins stories to make money and how the media portrays women as overly sexualized is what creates fear of things that women shouldn’t even be fearful of. The fear of terrorism is another real topic because it brings up the issue with racial prejudice and being Asian American I have been unfairly stereotyped. Lastly, I’ve felt the fear of hell but have never been persuaded into Christianity by being scared of being condemned and what type of Christian are people if they use fear as a method of bringing people to Chris? It makes the religion seem miserable from the beginning. Chapter 2 Diving more into fear, the chapter starts by discussing how morality can be driven by fear. Different situations happen to people and emotions are mainly socially expected because it is, “Part of what shapes character. (25)” While fears are instinctual, passions are learned by observing others to know when to feel what emotions and how to act. On page 26 the speaker concludes, “While fear itself may not be evil, disordered fear can certainly create the opportunity and justification for great evil.” Which shows that fear shapes peoples judgments about how they see the world, different from others. Fear causes adrenaline, whether good or bad to produce the action of fight or flight. As Christians we are supposed to love the enemy and the fear people experience comes from our own judgment “That we are not strong enough to fight off a threat. (28).” In a primarily individualistic world, safety is a primary goal that is centered around people taking care of themselves first such as the authors example of securing your own mask on a plane first, then your neighbors. Contrary to Christian values, fear brings out the worst in people making them act suspicious and judgmental. Fear also brings people together like on 9/11 when people were all gathered around the TV grieving for people who died but like speaker says, “In the end, such a community cannot last. (29)” In modern society, sex has seemed to loose its value between a man and woman and the love that God wanted people to share. Good people do bad things based on their fear of what happen to themselves if they don’t guard their hearts. Based on US attacks from foreigners Daniel Schorr takes note that the world we live in today uses further identity checks on people with visas to make Americans feel more secure with who is being let into the Country. Going back to fight or flight, “Preemptive flight can prevent us from engaging life and love, and taking risks and accepting adventure. (33).” While preemptive attack is violence that causes relationships to be broken. Not having enough money is another big social fear because money provides comfort in being able to pay for things like basic human necessities. Come to think of it, I have never really realized that emotions are partly socially learned and expected. But I realize when other people are sad it effects my emotions. Lets say that someone’s dog died and I laugh. That would be the “wrong” response to what society has deemed as sad. So then I question if what I feel is always authentic, even on the inside. With strangers, it’s hard to find the right level of trusting a stranger while still protecting yourself, and I, especially as a female definitely agree with the author in thinking that I am not strong enough to fight off certain threats that I have been warned about especially against men, which I think is a sad but ok fear to have. I also realize that some fears are stereotypical such as all homeless people being druggies. Last Summer I went on a missions trip to LA to help serve the homeless and after my experience I have realized that they are regular people and now have the tools to help them while naturally being mindful of my surroundings. I learned about the fight or flight motto in biology class and it seems like choosing either path we loose which is unfair because it is in our biological nature. Lastly, I want to end on the unfair racial prejudices that fear creates. Being Asian American I have been stereotyped but to fear one specific racial group based on people in the same race’s actions is not a fair representation of everyone in that race. Chapter 3 In the Brothers Grimm there is a boy who does not know how to fear and only learns how to fear by learning how to love.
Thus, “The only sure way to avoid fear, then, is to love less or not at all. (39-40)” But people have to be careful and not let fear control every aspect of their lives. The speaker is saying some people try to give up loving because they don’t want to fear being hurt by someone they love. “Sometimes it is when our loves are most threatened that we see them most clearly. (41)” Showing what it takes people to realize their priorities. Throughout time people have used “the fear of the Lord” to scare people into becoming religious, which is not accurate. There are many Bible verses that say not to fear the Lord, but then there are also some that do. The author summarizes this by saying, “It would seem that God promises to calm our fears of worldly dangers, while at the same time urging us to fear God. (43)” God doesn’t want us to fear the world because the world is not the right representation of fear because God wants to show us his power and things that are outside of the physical world. Aquinas suggests that the fear of God is like a child fearing their parents. The child is more scared of ruining their relationship than getting into trouble. People also do not fear by not acknowledging danger, which is unsafe because people purposefully look for danger to feel a thrill. Throughout the whole Star Wars saga, Anakin is said to be the “chosen one” but the whole time is overcome by fear. The whole time Anakin is tempted by fear and causes him to loose his love for others, especially his
wife. The whole being scared of love trend is very much something that is common within the youth of today. Whether it’s always been a “trend,” shows like the Bachelorette and dating online have emphasized the fearing of being hurt by love. Everyone’s personal experience causes them to be affected in different ways but I think being hurt by love hurts and affects the most. I think it’s sad but true that it takes their loved ones to be sick to pay or give more attention to them. I really like the idea of our relationship with God being like a parent because ever since I’ve been going to church they say he is our “Heavenly Father”. I don’t like that God instills his wrath on us to understand fear but I understand it because in a way he is guiding us to fear the right, him. To have people fear you, ultimately is to have power, but I’m glad God is the one in power. Chapter 4 The author starts out by talking about 9/11 and how asking questions about fear gives fear too much power to begin with. When testing fear, there is a middle ground that doesn’t give it too much power but allows it to continue on as a natural feeling. Grace is the only thing that can “give us the courage to fear as we should. (52). Fear comes from the imagination by making up things that are not meant to be feared or over exaggerating fear. The first type of fear is fearing something that is scary but does not pose a threat. The next is fearing an evil object that can happen but is not always relevant. So you can test fear by seeing whether the fear is relevant to the situation. We fear when we shouldn’t because, “In this way our imaginations make everything close. (54). A controversial topic such as gay unions is an example of a fear that may be imposing on love. The speaker makes a strong point that “to invoke fear first, as if an appeal to fear is the same thing as a moral argument…(55)” Another fear is being afraid of loosing and loving worldly objects that we are not supposed to love such as money which people with more money, fear loosing it more than someone who has less. Aquinas says that it is okay to fear being in poverty due to the consequences of not having enough money. He also says that it is okay to fear the loss of possessions as long as the fear is not making the person always paranoid. As long as there are no expectations, there will be no disappointments. Thus, people are more thankful when they have less because, “When we have more, we have more to lose. (58). This means that there is more to fear losing. People need to quiet fear in order to hear God speak to them and also fill their lives with adventure and die with a fulfilled life. I like how this whole chapter is about testing how extreme your fears are and how to determine if your fears are healthy or not. Like anxiety, there is a healthy amount to motivate me to do things but it can be so overwhelming that I don’t want to function anymore. I have anxiety and this is why I can understand the concept of fear so well to anxiety because I am not deathly fearful of most things, if anything. I have thought a lot about the topic of gay marriage and while my opinion has not changed, I do think about “What if my opinion is “wrong”. In my lifetime I’ve gone on two mission trips and even though everyone says, “poorer people are happier,” I really have noticed that that saying is true to an extent. Ever since I was little I have always been very attached to my “stuff” and not ever wanted anyone to touch it even my family, which I am still like today. I know it’s unhealthy to be attached to stuff, so I try to donate things and am more appreciative when I receive gifts.
Fear is one of the most powerful emotions, therefore by using fear as a rhetorical strategy it makes Edwards’s argument more memorable and more likely to be taken to heart due to the audience’s dreading eternity in a “lake of burning brimstone,” (2) and a “pit of glowing flames of the wrath of god” (2). Fear turns the imagined into something tangible and because the audience has no way of actually discovering heaven or hell until they die, they are more likely to accept his argument and accept god into their lives in order to avoid hell.
“Fear becomes easier to master when the patient’s mind is diverted from the thing feared to the fear itself, considered as a present and undesirable state of his own mind; and when he regards the fear as his appointed cross he will inevitably think of it as a state of mind.” (9) Once the patient has figured out the states of fear, then they can conquer it. They immediately transfer paths so they do not get pulled into the dark forces. 1 John4:18 says “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love”
The addition of fear is sometimes too much for people to handle. As if they didn’t have enough already” (Baker 1).
Since she was fearful of her father, she then thought she passed that fear down to her daughter by some of the same actions her daughter had done that she had done herself. She stated, “Is that possible, that children can inherit fear” (46). This causes the woman to have problems with herself and think that she was the reason for her daughter to turn out the way she did. She also didn’t think about having another child to risk passing the fear on again. Her childhood and how her father wasn’t always a part of her life resulted in her future to be how it turned
When it comes to films most people think that the filmmakers just draft up the script, hires some actors, films and edits some scenes, then releases the next number one movie in America to the world (or select theaters near you). In actuality, there are a lot more details that go into film than that. Filmmakers are constantly making decisions in regards to a films narrative and cinematic style and making sure a film comes out as well as it can. One of those decisions fall under cinematic style and is called mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene has four elements: lighting, costume/makeup, sets/props, and figure expression and movement. The three that will be focused on when analyzing the film Modern Times are costume/makeup, sets/props, and figure expression
... is only there to attempt to take him off track as the fear of suffering is worse than the action itself, which never happens when one pursues their dreams anyways. Therefore, the fear of the suffering in the future should be conquered as it is nothing but a burden to one’s life. Thus, the fear of the future must be conquered because people do not know if what they are afraid of will actually happen.
I agree with this as I have personal experience with this situation. When things in life get hard and stressed out I try to get out of it by entertaining myself by watching a funny program on television, so that I will forget the problem. Yet, this peace is short-lived as one day we will have to face the problem. He goes on to say that man has two types of fear the fear of life and the fear of death. I agree with this statement. Even when humans are living on earth they are surrounded by fear of every kind of natural calamities, accidents, disease outbreaks, responsibilities, and finally the fear of death. This is true for people who worry all the time about things. A person who is in Texas could sit worrying and fearing about a disease outbreak in China. However, the truth is that most of the time the things we fear never actually come true. He says an interesting fact said by Perls about the four layers of the neurotic structure. “The first two layers are the getting along in society layer, the third layer is our inner feeling of emptiness and being lost, and the fourth layer is the fear of death” (57). I also liked the statement said by Traherne that “the totality of the human condition is the thing that is so hard for a man to recapture. He wants his world safe for delight, wants to blame others for his fate” (65), which is absolutely true. Every human being wants happiness and safety in the world. Humans also have the tendency to put the blame on others for their own actions. I also like and agree with the statement Kirkegaard said that people get afraid when things are not arranged in the same order they know it to be. He gives the perfect example of a math problem. “When it is changed in any form than it was taught to us we perceive it as a new problem altogether and get frightened” (71). I also like his idea about how to encourage a child to grow up on
Although we have taken monumental strides in the past fifty years towards racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks some sort of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are vastly diverse when it comes to race and culture, yet in the media people of color get marginalized and stereotyped everyday in film, music, and etc.
As defined in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.” These customary beliefs could also be described as a set of morals or values commonly practiced by a group. Social forms are understood as being the institutions in which interaction and socialization between people take place, such as at school, church, or work. The material traits within a culture would include clothing, food, and art to name a few. Music is a distinct, diverse culture in itself, a subculture. Each musical era had its own code of values, social forms, and material traits.
Fear is an everyday emotion that the human race must face, and it can bring out the best and worst of us, but its how we choose to deal with it that truly defines us.
In order to study and understand pop culture we must first and foremost confront the
The Effects of Popular Culture on Society Popular Culture is music, dance, theatre, film,T.V., poetry and Art which is enjoyed by a wide group of people. Some people would argue that popular culture in the 1960's cause harm. Other people however argued that other factors brought harm and change to society. Some people would argue that music would cause harm because of the lyrics in pop songs. Lyrics like 'Lets spend the night together' by The Rolling Stones, influenced young people to have casual sex.
There are many ways to define popular culture. Many individuals have grappled with the question what is popular culture? And how to critically analyze and deconstruct the meanings. Looking at the root words of popular culture is where to begin. Raymond Williams states ‘popular’ means: “well liked by many people" or “culture actually made for the people themselves (Storey, p.5). This is part with the word ‘culture’ combine to look at how the two words have been connect by theoretical work within social and historical context. John Storey approaches popular culture in six categories, they are as followed: “Popular culture is simply culture that is widely favoured or well liked by many people”, Popular culture is “the culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture”, Popular culture is “mass culture”, “Popular culture is the culture that originates from ‘the people.” and “Popular culture as a site of struggle
In the contemporary society, popular culture represents the emerging lifestyles, fashions, values, as well as customs that the mainstream population follows without hesitation and with loyalty. It embraces a blend of philosophies, opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, and imageries, besides various forms of events that specific groups of individuals adopt in the society. Popular culture plays a significant role in shaping the way people think or perceive things by offering them a unique interpretation of something that they may eventually like. In this digital age, some of the popular culture known today takes account of television programs watched by many people, the numbers of individuals who currently use the internet constantly as the best means
Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change” (John Podhoretz). It encompasses the advertisements we see on T.V, the clothes we wear, the music we listen too, and it’s the reason Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar yet. It defines and dictates the desires and fears of the mainstream members of society; and it is so ingrained into our lives that it has become as natural as breathing. Moreover, adults never even bat an eyelash at all the pop culture and advertising that surrounds them since it has become just another part of everyday life. Pop culture is still somewhat seen as entertainment enjoyed by the lower class members of society; but pop culture standards change over time. A notable example of this is the sixteenth century author, William Shakespeare, since his works were considered pop culture, entertainment that could be enjoyed by everyone, but now they are considered literary classics. While pop culture encompasses most aspects of our lives, its influence is most obvious through each generations reaction to media,