The Hitchhiker's Guide to Pop Culture

Bitch, please!

2005-05-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

Since my last post was all about my Star Wars criticism, I thought I'd post this
too... this is a rant I went off on in a forum for one of my favorite bands.
This girl Casey said that she was going to boycott Star Wars because pop culture
was poisoning her mind. Having just spent 4 hour immersed the evils that pop
culture has to offer, I freaked out. Because, come on, Star Wars is all good and
light! It taught me important lessons as a child! Anyway, she defended herself by then saying she wasn't seeing it because everyone else liked it. Which then of course we all proceeded to rip into her for being completely petty and immature. Now she's defending herself by being stuck up and all like "I don't care what you think". She's obviously trying hard to not care and outpunk the system. She's probably just doing it so people will think she's cool, even thought she's criticizing people who go to see Star Wars for trying to be cool. Funny how hypocrisy works, huh? I know I'm there to be cool, I'm there to worship Yoda. There is nothing cool about that. But hey, I'll fuck you up if you talk about my Star Wars. Anyway, here's my rant... sorry about the censors, that forum is family friendly....

No offense, but if your idea of fighting off the poison of pop culture is
by boycotting Star Wars, then that may be the most worthless fight ever
fought.

Some aliens and lightsabers aren't going to poison the
minds of children. I mean, come on, don't tell me that Star Wars doesn't
impart some good messages in children. Try to deny that and I can and will send you through the ringer. You don't Fudge with Star Wars. I mean, yeah, Epsiodes 1 and 2 kinda sucked, but you still never Fudge with Star Wars.

When I think of poisonous pop culture I lean more towards Britney Spears
and her David Silver lookalike of a husband or Paris "one dimensional slut"
Hilton. Or Jessica "now that I'm married I can sleep with whoever, including
Johnny Knoxville and Fred Durst" Simpson. Speaking of that, FRED DURST is the man who is single handedly poisoning pop culture. How about boycotting some Limp Bizkit albums? Or movies like Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen or the God awful Lizzie MagGuire: The Movie. Lindsey Lohan and Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson and Jessica Simpson and Britney and Christina are the people to keep your children from. Refrain from allowing their faces to grace your television screen.

If you're worried about Star Wars being the worst of pop culture,
then apparently you don't know about pop culture. There is a scary world out
there that is worth fighting against. At least Star Wars has decency, no
nudity or foul language. And it's actually saying something. Now when you
can come bring me some deep thoughts from a Lindsey Lohan album or prove that Nick Lachey can form a coherent sentence, then you can move on to my beloved Star Wars.

And I don't mean this as an attack, but I have loved Star Wars since I was 2. I have also consumed a foolish amount of caffeine and pop culture is something I don't Fudge around with.

A long time ago...

2005-05-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

... in a house not so far away (about 65 miles from my current locale), I fell in love with George Lucas' brainchild, the Star Wars trilogy. The excitement, the adventure, the Yoda puppet. Life could not get any better and I also was blind (and naive) enough to not relize that down the road things could (and would) get worse.

But, I refuse to let myself get on my high horse about these "prequels" right now. It is an endless ramble that I am not ready to commit myself to at the present time. I am here to comment on my thoughts about Anakin's actions in Episode III. Now, Anakin's role may have been made dredfully dull by the performance of an awful actor. Now now, he may not truly be a terrible actor, my friend has informed me he was good in other things, but in this he makes me cry from dullness. Yet, the actions he performs and the motivation behind them is something from the brainwork of George Lucas, not Anakin Shakespeare... I mean Skywalker.

I have had this conversation with two or three people now. They have all thought that Padme was the focal point of blame in this film. She was the Eve to Anakin's role of Adam. She led him down the path to temptation, in this case, the Dark Side. My one friend even saw it as a complete offense to her feminist ideals and told her boyfriend so. Yet, after seeing the film for the second time the other night (the first time, I was at the midnight show with all the other geeks, so my mere Star Wars geekiness had blinded me at that point. Shut up, I don't wanna hear it), I have come to understand a completely different aspect. There is only one villian, and that is Anakin himself. He is truly the only one to blame for his own actions.

Why did he go with Chancellor Palpatine/ Darth Sidous? Ah yes, because he wanted to save Padme from dying in childbirth. So it was his love for her that made him crazy. Or was it? Why did he want to keep her safe, healthy and alive? Deep down inside, I had this feeling it was because he needed her. It wasn't so much about her living for her own sake, but for his. Especially when he says, "I can't live without her." Did he ever think that she was concerned with living without him? Did he ever think about her needs, wants, dreams, hopes, fears, concerns? She wanted to get away, go back to Tatooine to raise "the baby" and Anakin never paid her wishes any mind. Why? Because he was on the quest for extreme POWER!!!!

The kid was obvisouly obsessed with power, even before he learned anything from Palpatine. To think that Padme was really to blame for anything is rather rediculous. The second she said one word he didn't want to hear, he was throwing a tantrum like a baby with a diaper rash. Think about it, the second this woman he "loved" was seen for a single momentary second as a threat to his power, he choked her. He choked his pregnant wife. Hello? As my friend would say, "Homeboy has some issues." How much could he truly love another and be somewhat selfless to them if he is willing to choke them... while pregnant? It's very obvious that he wanted the power to save Padme only to have the power and to keep her alive for himself. He needed her, he never cared if she needed him.

*Yar, here be spoilers* Padme was strong, she didn't really need him. She wanted to have a life with him though. Well, she wanted a life with the Anakin she knew in Episode II (which I will never understand, but hey, love is a mystery). She wanted a father for her child. Now, to get to the whole death scene. She lost her "will to live", which would lead some to believe she did need him. I didn't see it that way either. I see it partially as she blamed herself wrongfully for Anakin's switch. She never noticed that he was turning to the Dark Side until he was already there. She felt as if she had betrayed him, betrayed the Republic, betrayed the Jedi and most of all, she betrayed her unborn child(ren). She felt as if her life was over, she left as if she had helped the Sith regain power over the galaxy. That is a lot of weight to carry on ones shoulders. So while people would like to think of this as solely some sappy, sad love story; I would like to remind them that there is a whole galaxy out there. She thought outside the box. She was Queen Amadala, she was a Senator, the girl had some brains. Though love messed with her head a little, which happens to all of us, she thought about the gaxaly at large at the end. I can just feel it, like one can feel a disturbance in the Force. I don't think she was given enough credit for her true role. She martyred herself for a man that never truly gave her the love she desired. Now, that is what I call love.

So, here ends my Star Wars rant. *bows* If you haven't seen Episode III yet, get your asses to the theater. I'll go see it with you. A third viewing might do me some good. And hey, the bad acting alone is enough to keep one entertained.

Welcome to the jungle!

2005-05-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are. After being coerced by Mallory to start a journal about my own gripes and raves of pop culture, here I am! I'm just your normal college girl ready to comment on anything and everything that comes my way. I may be an English major, but I have always had a strange attraction to pop culture. My affinity is mostly with music and movies, but I like to peruse other facets of pop culture.

So brace yourselves and be prepared for the onslaught that I will bring. Everything from my distaste of people like Beyonce and Lindsey Lohan to my undying love of Jason Varitek and Sean Astin. Welcome to my world, suckas!!!