After slamming myself in the previous blog for being too willing to follow what opinion my Opinion Leaders take on something, I figured I can be a little kinder to myself in this blog.
There is a rarely a time I watch TV for purely entertainment reasons. Yes, I'll turn it on low when I take a nap but when I watch TV, it is usually to gain information. Regardless, the media still affects me. I may not agree with everything I see that I watch, but the main reason I watch the programs I do is because I do agree with the majority of the programs opinions. Giving up the plan I had not to let my political leanings come out, I tend to watch a lot of Glenn Beck, Anderson Cooper, and some O'Reilly. I definitely don't agree with everything that is put on on those shows, and I find myself arguing in my head with the host, or a guest on the show all the time. I have noticed my opinions on things change or drift farther in one direction from watching certain programs. For example, when someone mentions Illegal Immigration, my reaction to the word is much closer to Glenn Beck's now than it was a few months ago, because of his constant talk about the subject. His position SEEMS logical to me, though I think he gets a little too upset about it, so his constant jabber about the issue has really gotten into my head, especially, since, admitantly, I don't work very hard to get information from the other side about the issue.
I suppose I see the TV as a good way to form my opinions about things. Anderson Cooper is far more moderate than Glenn Beck (although not liberal), so I look at him as way of moderating my opinion so it doesn't become too mindlessly conservative. While some watch TV for Entertainment and aren't fully aware of the values they have that are changing, I watch it for information, but count on it shaping my opinion, which is a big difference...for better or worse, I don't know.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
How Much Does My Oppinion Leader(s) Influence Me?
Just how much does my opinion leaders influence me?
I will readily admit that it is way too much. First of all, I must say that when we picked an opinion leader and rated ourself, I didn't pick just one. I don't really look up to one person more than other people, but I definitely have a certain group of people that I look up to more than anyone else. These people exist mostly within affinity groups of musicians, and theologians/philosophers.
With any given opinion leader, it is very likely that I might just say I believe the same thing they do about a certain thing if I don't much about it.
Take Mike Portnoy, the drummer for...well...you guessed it, Dream Theater. Not only do his opinions of music fall almost identically in line with mine. When I first went to his website, and looked around a bit, I expected to find a list of simply progressive rock and metal bands in his "favorite albums" list, but I was stunned to find out that The Beatles were his favorite band of all time, which I would have never expected from a Prog metal drummer. Other of his softer favorites (along with the harder stuff like Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera of course)included Elton John, Jellyfish, Peter Gabriel, U2, Radiohead, and even the Beachboys. His collection of favorite albums is still the closest to mine I think I've ever seen. What became even scarier when I clicked on his list of all time "favorite films" was that it was eerily closer to mine than anyone elses list I think I've ever seen. All this combined with the fact that he is a great drummer makes him a huge oppinion leader in my life. Way too much in fact. One of the biggest disadvantages to having this strange "link" to a celebrity is that I will make his opinions mine even before I've watched/listened to any of the media he loves. I have found myself answering people in response to questions like "What do you think of Public Enemy?" and telling them I thought they were awesome when I've never even listened to them just because "Fear of a Black Planet" is one of Portnoy's favorite albums of all time. If you want to look at his lists, feel free. Favorite films
Favorite Albums
The same thing applies for theologian/philosophers that I have a lot of respect for like William Lane Craig. Because I think he has defended the existence of God in such an articulate, balanced, yet sensitive manner, I find myself usually being much more comfortable with a position that I have on an issue just because he holds it. I feel like I have a good, balanced, and well thought out opinion, even if they only reason I hold it is because he does, which is of course completely wrong-headed. I would write more, but I have to blog some more.
I will readily admit that it is way too much. First of all, I must say that when we picked an opinion leader and rated ourself, I didn't pick just one. I don't really look up to one person more than other people, but I definitely have a certain group of people that I look up to more than anyone else. These people exist mostly within affinity groups of musicians, and theologians/philosophers.
With any given opinion leader, it is very likely that I might just say I believe the same thing they do about a certain thing if I don't much about it.
Take Mike Portnoy, the drummer for...well...you guessed it, Dream Theater. Not only do his opinions of music fall almost identically in line with mine. When I first went to his website, and looked around a bit, I expected to find a list of simply progressive rock and metal bands in his "favorite albums" list, but I was stunned to find out that The Beatles were his favorite band of all time, which I would have never expected from a Prog metal drummer. Other of his softer favorites (along with the harder stuff like Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera of course)included Elton John, Jellyfish, Peter Gabriel, U2, Radiohead, and even the Beachboys. His collection of favorite albums is still the closest to mine I think I've ever seen. What became even scarier when I clicked on his list of all time "favorite films" was that it was eerily closer to mine than anyone elses list I think I've ever seen. All this combined with the fact that he is a great drummer makes him a huge oppinion leader in my life. Way too much in fact. One of the biggest disadvantages to having this strange "link" to a celebrity is that I will make his opinions mine even before I've watched/listened to any of the media he loves. I have found myself answering people in response to questions like "What do you think of Public Enemy?" and telling them I thought they were awesome when I've never even listened to them just because "Fear of a Black Planet" is one of Portnoy's favorite albums of all time. If you want to look at his lists, feel free. Favorite films
Favorite Albums
The same thing applies for theologian/philosophers that I have a lot of respect for like William Lane Craig. Because I think he has defended the existence of God in such an articulate, balanced, yet sensitive manner, I find myself usually being much more comfortable with a position that I have on an issue just because he holds it. I feel like I have a good, balanced, and well thought out opinion, even if they only reason I hold it is because he does, which is of course completely wrong-headed. I would write more, but I have to blog some more.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
New TV Genres
I'm not a HUGE TV show watcher, but I will give this my best shot before 12:00. How about a fusion between a news show, and improvisational comedy (in the style of Whose Line is it Anyway?/Saturday Night Live)
Each segment of the show would consist of a few set pieces. In each segment, a group of about three people would be put on the set, which comes with some sort of very broad story line. Within the context of the story, the cast would need to improvise everything while including news of certain events that occurred that day (Except no tragedies would be reported, so the improv comedy wouldn't seem irreverent.
I think the show would be a huge success because Americans desire to get their news in an entertaining way (thus The Daily Show, Red Eye, Glenn Beck, and Stephen Colbert), and they also love comedy sketches, especially improv comedy (Whose Line is it Anyway). What is a more of a perfect marriage than comedy sketches with news? It would be original because although there have been shows making fun of the news, they were all set up like regular news shows. This would be set up like a regular comedy show, but be a news show.
The balance between invention and convention is fairly obvious. the convention is the news show, and the comedy sketch show. The invention is the combination of both of them which is something most people will have never seen before.
Each segment of the show would consist of a few set pieces. In each segment, a group of about three people would be put on the set, which comes with some sort of very broad story line. Within the context of the story, the cast would need to improvise everything while including news of certain events that occurred that day (Except no tragedies would be reported, so the improv comedy wouldn't seem irreverent.
I think the show would be a huge success because Americans desire to get their news in an entertaining way (thus The Daily Show, Red Eye, Glenn Beck, and Stephen Colbert), and they also love comedy sketches, especially improv comedy (Whose Line is it Anyway). What is a more of a perfect marriage than comedy sketches with news? It would be original because although there have been shows making fun of the news, they were all set up like regular news shows. This would be set up like a regular comedy show, but be a news show.
The balance between invention and convention is fairly obvious. the convention is the news show, and the comedy sketch show. The invention is the combination of both of them which is something most people will have never seen before.
Favorite Texts and the genres they come from?
Norah Jones (I've really only heard her fist album, Come Away With Me, so I am basing my thoughts of it): It is very hard to say what her fans would call her. It depends on what type of music her fans like the most. The reason she is so successful is because of her very broad appeal to many different audience types. Basically the only group of people that don't have a chance at liking her would be the guys that are rock/distortion/heavy-esque purists. I suppose the majority of her fans would describe her as pop. Some of her fans may cringe at the word pop, and put her in the genre of jazz to avoid anyone's suspicions that they may like pop music. There is a good element of country in her songs also, and a lot of big country fans would see this element more than anything else, and say she is country. Much like John Mayer's fans, it is safe to say that Norah Jone's fans probably wouldn't get along with each other very well. On the way back from a Norah Jone's concert, one guy may drive away with Billie Holiday or Miles Davis blaring through the speakers, while another drives away with Brad Paisley, and yet another with Kelly Clarkson. When the guy with Billie Holiday on hears Brad Paisley, or Kelly Clarkson, he might be repulsed, and the other two guy's may react the same way to his music.
Critics, trying to remain unbiased toward any genres, would probably have the best shot at nailing her in a genre. But because of this, they might not put her in a certain genre at all, and instead, may say she is a fusion of jazz, and country.
Producers...well it is hard to say. She is signed with Blue Note, which is a jazz record label. So it may be that the producers might be trying to get the jazzers into the loop, while still trying to attract some fans of more main-stream music simply through Jone's fairly catchy melodies. If that was anything close to their strategy, it worked because Jone's has won a few grammy's.
Jone's balances convention and invention quite well. Her use of jazz piano, and jazz chord progressions in a lot of her songs is somewhat unusual within a more poppy style, but her unforgettably sweet voice is the standard mark of a good female pop singer.
Critics, trying to remain unbiased toward any genres, would probably have the best shot at nailing her in a genre. But because of this, they might not put her in a certain genre at all, and instead, may say she is a fusion of jazz, and country.
Producers...well it is hard to say. She is signed with Blue Note, which is a jazz record label. So it may be that the producers might be trying to get the jazzers into the loop, while still trying to attract some fans of more main-stream music simply through Jone's fairly catchy melodies. If that was anything close to their strategy, it worked because Jone's has won a few grammy's.
Jone's balances convention and invention quite well. Her use of jazz piano, and jazz chord progressions in a lot of her songs is somewhat unusual within a more poppy style, but her unforgettably sweet voice is the standard mark of a good female pop singer.
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