English Portfolio

Erick Morales
Eng. 114B
May 11, 2012
CSUN

Portfolio Introduction:  A Year in Professor Dinsmore’s English class

            A whole year has already passed since I first came into this class.  It’s incredible how fast this first year of college felt.  It feels like just yesterday I was the one graduating from high school, and now I see myself finishing my freshman year in college.  Taking this class has helped me a lot in my writing and critical thinking skills.  I learned concepts and ideas that can help me construct better written essays.

            Some of the things that I learned last semester were Ethos, Pathos, and logos.  These are concepts I didn’t know or thought about prior to this class.  I now look at commercials and essays in different ways.  I realize how some people try to persuade others by using logic, emotion, or the credibility of someone based on their social status, like actors and singers.  When I watch commercials on TV of some company trying to sell a product, for the most, the commercial is done using ethos, or the credibility of someone famous.  I learned that this strategy, as well as the others, is very effective, especially when it comes to writing persuasive essays. One other major thing I learned last semester was how to use MLA style in writing. I don’t know why I was never really taught this in high school, but I’m glad I did this year. After having taken this class I feel more confident as a writer.  Ideas flow a bit easier, and I don’t struggle as much when I write essays.

            During the second semester we focused mostly on identity and the construction of it.  We learned how video games affect someone’s vision of reality, and help to construct their identities.  We also learned about how space can shape someone’s identity.  Like the book we read “Persepolis” is a great example of it.  We had an assignment which consisted of doing an ethnographic work observing how space influences people’s identity and actions.  My group and I decided to take a visit to the theater and do our work on it.  We observed different theaters and presented our findings in class.

            During this semester we wrote two essays.  Both related to identity.  The first one I wrote was titled “Gaming Reality” and basically what I talk about is how the movie Gamer is similar to our reality.  I make comparisons explaining how what is shown in the movie is not too far off from our own real world.  In the second essay I talk about space and identity.  The space or environment in which one grows up has a major effect on the identity they eventually develop.  Social class has a lot to do with this.  The rich and poor grow up in very different neighborhoods, and thus experience different situations, though this is not always the case, I think it’s true for the most part. I go a little more into depth about this topic in my second essay.

            Identity was the main focus this last semester in class.  I found out there are a lot of things that help in the process and development of it.  It’s pretty interesting to see how this works, and helps to see, why some people are the way they are.  Overall, the topics that we touched throughout this year helped me grow as a writer, and I’m looking forward to putting these concepts into use in the future.

Gaming Reality

            Sometimes science fiction movies may seem too far off from reality; but when you take a closer look you may discover that that is not always true.  The movie Gamer is one of those movies.  Video games have become an important part in many people’s lives.  Now-a-days they can create their own avatars and live in a fictional world through their video games.  According to a survey American gamers spent over 13 hours a week playing in 2010, and the average gaming time keeps rising. Americans are spending over 7% of their time living their own fictional reality.  The avatars people create and they themselves have a close relationship.  Avatars are like actors playing a script written by the player.

            The movie Gamer aims to show a futuristic world where mind-controlling technological advancements allow people to control other people. In this movie death row inmates are given 30 sessions during which they are controlled and played by other humans; a game that very much looks like Counter Strike or Call of duty; except in this case they are not computer-made avatars, they are flesh-and-blood humans being played as avatars.  If they can survive these 30 sessions they would be set free.  Simple video games such as those are taken to the extreme and turned into a reality in the movie.

The identity of these inmates, called “slayers”, is taken over by whoever is controlling them.  Technically the slayers have sold themselves and their identity in order to get their freedom back.  This is where the movie reflects a world that is very similar to ours. The slayers are somewhat like soldiers from the army.  The reason why the inmates decided to take part of this game was because they wanted freedom and a better lifestyle than the one they had in prison.  When the army recruits people they offer a lot of things, but most importantly they focus on your economic future.  So, when people sign up for the army one of the main reasons why they do it is to be economically stable.  “In March 2007, the overall unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.  In just 18 months it spiked to 9.8 percent, creating a boom for military recruiting… In the military... older recruits see ‘a stable job, stable income.  The younger generation [is] seeking a way to pay for college.’" (Weak Economy Draws Middle-Class Recruits.)   Army recruits and slayers decide to take part of this “game” for the same basic reason: to better their lives, even if it means running the risk of getting killed in the process.

Once the inmates in the movie sell themselves to be part of the game, they are in total control of the player.  The slayers are like puppets to the players.  They follow the orders and do as the player pleases.  Army soldiers are somewhat like slayers in that sense.  Once they are recruited they MUST do as their commander says.  In boot camp they have no other choice but to follow the rules and do as they are told.  They are being controlled.  In the battlefield they open fire only when they are given the order, they go where their commanders send them, and they kill who they are told to kill, just like the slayers.  They both are in danger of being killed, yet they can’t do anything about it but to follow orders.  They are the puppets playing the game.

In the movie Gamer there is also a thing called “society” which is made up of people who just like the slayers are being controlled and played by other people in exchange for money.  This society reflects the sexual fantasies, and wildest thoughts from a great amount of people in our own society.  In Gamer’s society women were seen as sexual objects, which is not too far from true.  Some women in our real society are in fact sexual objects. Just like the people in the society there are real people who sell themselves for money.  An example of this can be prostitutes.  They too sell their bodies and are at mercy and control of the buyer.  The relationship between the prostitute and the buyer is technically the same as the relationship between the player and the society person they play in Gamer. 

Other people in real life, just like in the movie’s society, are in a way being controlled by other people too, though not of course with controllers like the movie suggests.  We live in a society where since infants we were taught how to act, speak, and behave. We grow up thinking something is right or wrong according to what the standards say. And who makes up those standards? People of social high ranking class do, rich people, the ones in power.  Owners of companies and movies/show’s producers show how people are supposed to dress or look. On TV and magazines we usually see buff, muscular guys and thin, pretty girls. They create in our mind a standard of how we should look and most of us live according to that. We create in our minds a perspective of beauty and ugly; it’s as if we are being brain-washed.  Everyone in their own unique societies and cultures are in a way programmed to be the persons they grow up to be.  Social class in this world is very important.  In the movie Gamer the people that controlled and played the slayers and the people in society were rich people.  We all know if you have money in this world, you have power.  The rich class people are the ones that own the big companies, run the politics, and rule the world.  They make up the rules and standards.  Poor and middle class people just work for them to make a living; we follow their rules and their standards which is like being controlled by them.  Based on what we see or hear on TV or other types of media we build a sense of how to act or speak. Why is the accent or usage of words from the Queen of England better than someone who’s grown up in a poor neighborhood in LA?  We often try to live up to the standards and way of life of rich people we see on the media. Our identities are developed upon the rich’s view and ethic of right or wrong, and normal and deviant.  But we don’t usually realize this.  We just live as we were taught to.

This movie may be science fiction and it is supposed to be years from now, but despite the technological advancements, we can still relate what happens in the movie to today’s reality.  Playing RPG’s is a good distraction and pretty entertaining, but one has to be careful and make sure you can distinguish it from real life.  The real world may be hard and tough but is better than living a fictional one.  Gamer is a perfect example that shows how a video game can became a reality.

Works cited

Eddie Makuch. “Time spent gaming on the rise – NPD.” Gamespot.  N.P. May 27, 2010. Web. March 3, 2012

Tom Philpott. “Weak Economy Draws Middle-Class Recruits.” Military.com. N.P. October 22, 2009. Web. March 3, 2012.

Waggoner. “Videogames, Avatars, and Identity.”  N.P. N.D.

Identity and Socio-economic status

            Each one of us are different, but yet the same in so many ways.  Some of us might act, talk, think, or look alike.  We might come from different places, or the same place, and thus have similar or distinct physical features.  But we all are unique in a certain way.  It is interesting how you will never find someone who will be exactly just the same way you are. Our identity is a long, constructing process that takes place throughout our lifetimes.  The notion of self-identity and the construction of it is a broad and interesting topic.  Several things or facts attribute to this “identity” perception.

            We first have to look at what identity is.  What exactly is personal “identity” and where does this notion come from?  “We often speak of one's “personal identity” as what makes one the person one is. Your identity in this sense consists roughly of what makes you unique as an individual and different from others. Or it is the way you see or define yourself, or the network of values and convictions that structure your life” (Stanford Encyclopedia).  The concept of identity as we usually use it is quite close to the metaphysical concept of essence, in which it has its origin. “The word essence is derived from the Latin esse, which means «to be» and has its origin in the thought of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Essence stands for the fundamental being of something, that is to say the set of attributes that make it what it fundamentally is, which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity or would just not exist” (reduplikation).  Having that said, we can go back and explore what makes one’s identity and how this one is shaped.

Our identities are first shaped at home.  As babies we imitate our parent’s actions.  We imitate everything we see.  Our identities begin to construct ever since we are born.  We then begin to be us, the persons we’ll grow up to be.  Parents’ actions are primarily what affect a kid’s self-identity as they grow up.  The construction of our identities is then influenced by the environment around which we live and grow up, and the people with whom we socialize and surround us. Much of what we see and go through impacts us, and these events are what shape our self-beings.  Hence, no person can be the same as another.  We all go through and experience different situations that make us unique in different ways.

Simple things like growing up in a certain neighborhood or culture attribute to the shaping and developing of our identities.  Two normal average kids living and growing up two blocks apart from each other may experience completely different situations that would make them very different from each other.  One of the kids may live in poor/dangerous neighborhood where gangbangers reside.  Just the presence of the gangsters in that particular neighborhood changes the space completely from that of his fellow friend living two blocks away in a residential area where gang-related problems are not an issue.  The environment and space are key factors in developing self-identity.  As an example we could look at people living in a wealthy and safer neighborhood like Bel-Air where the crime rate is low, the median household income is $207,938, which is pretty high, (making it the neighborhood ranked number one in the Los Angeles County for the household income.)  Someone growing up in neighborhood like Bel-Air will most likely have a completely different view of the world than someone who grew up in another neighborhood like Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw, where the crime rates are extremely high, and people don’t exactly live in luxury.  The rich and the poor will have their identities shaped very differently according to the conditions they live in.

The fact of living and growing up in a dangerous/poor neighborhoods or a rich and wealthy ones helps to define how a person shapes his ideals and own-self.  Living in a poor neighborhood people have to be careful and aware at all times.  This may cause them to live in fear and/or to always have their guards up.  With all the robberies, murders, and problems going on one develops a different perspective of the world.  A kid growing up in a wealthy neighborhood where he does not have to worry about being outside at night and even during the day, or leaving his toys in the yard without having them stolen, forms a different view of the world in his mind.  The perception one gets of the world, is mostly gathered from the events and environment in which one lives.  This does not necessarily mean that just because one lives in a particular area or neighborhood he/she will develop an identity that reflects the environment of the neighborhood in which he/she lives.  Like I mentioned before, parents’ actions are what first influence and shape a kid’s identity.  It would not matter as much if the kid lives in the richest neighborhood, if at home he sees violence and experiences abuse of any kind, either physical or mental.  This is how space, and the environment and conditions we live in shape and help to construct one’s identity.

Also, the wealthy does not have to struggle to put bread on the table every day.  Kids that are born into wealthy families have it a lot easier to be “successful.”  By this I mean that they are perhaps given a better education, since they can afford private school and expensive universities, whereas poor, average people have to go to public schools, where education is not so good.  The level of education we receive also helps to shape our identities, and is an important factor in getting a good job.  Moreover, “lower socioeconomic status among older adults is associated with higher rates of medical and psychological disorders.  Poor older adults have poorer access to medical care, prescription medications, long-term care, and community-based care. The impact of poverty on young children is significant and long lasting, limiting chances of moving out of poverty. Poverty is associated with substandard housing, homelessness, inadequate child care, unsafe neighborhoods, and under resourced schools; and poor children are at greater risk than higher income children for a range of problems, including detrimental effects on IQ, poor academic achievement, poor socioemotional functioning, developmental delays, behavioral problems, asthma, poor nutrition, low birth weight, and pneumonia” (American Psychological).

The shaping and developing of identity is a long and complex process that takes time.  There are many factors contributing to this notion of self-identity.  The situations presented to us, the environment and people surrounding us, to my understanding, are the most influential factors in the construction of identity. In different spaces and situations people act differently.  People behave according to the stage that is presented to them.  This translates to the behavior they develop and practice in other normal situations.  Life is a process of learning.  We constantly keep learning new things.  We learn what is bad and what is good.  In a way we learn to be ourselves and act accordingly.  Developing our identities is learning what, why, and who we are.  We may all take different paths, but in the end we all are heading in the same direction, discovering who we truly are. 

 Works cited

“Do we know who we are? A brief reflection on identity.” reduplikation.net. March 26,          2010. Web. April 29, 2012.

Mapping L.A: Neighborhoods. Los Angeles Times. n.d. Web. April 29, 2012.

Olson, Eric T. "Personal Identity." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter    2010 Edition.) Edward N. Zalta (ed.) Web. April 29, 2012.

“Resolution on Poverty and Socioeconomic Status.” The American Psychological Association. August 6, 2000. Web. May 12, 2012.

           

Essay #2: Identity

            Each one of us are different, but yet the same in so many ways.  Some of us might act, talk, think, or look alike.  We might come from different places, or the same place, and thus have similar or distinct physical features.  But we all are unique in a certain way.  It is interesting how you will never find someone who will be exactly just the same way you are. Our identity is a long, constructing process that takes place throughout our lifetimes.  The notion of self-identity and the construction of it is a broad and interesting topic.  Several things or facts attribute to this “identity” perception.

            We first have to look at what identity is.  What exactly is personal “identity” and where does this notion come from?  We often speak of one's “personal identity” as what makes one the person one is. Your identity in this sense consists roughly of what makes you unique as an individual and different from others. Or it is the way you see or define yourself, or the network of values and convictions that structure your life. The concept of identity as we usually use it is quite close to the metaphysical concept of essence, in which it has its origin. The word essence is derived from the Latin esse, which means «to be» and has its origin in the thought of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Essence stands for the fundamental being of something, that is to say the set of attributes that make it what it fundamentally is, which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity or would just not exist.  Having that said, we can go back and explore what makes one’s identity and how this one is shaped.

Our identities are first shaped at home.  As babies we imitate our parent’s actions.  We imitate everything we see.  Our identities begin to construct ever since we are born.  We then begin to be us, the persons we’ll grow up to be.  Parents’ actions are primarily what affect a kid’s self-identity as they grow up.  The construction of our identities is then influenced by the environment around which we live and grow up, and the people with whom we socialize and surround us. Much of what we see and go through impacts us, and these events are what shape our self-beings.  Hence, no person can be the same as another.  We all go through and experience different situations that make us unique in different ways.

Simple things like growing up in a certain neighborhood or culture attribute to the shaping and developing of our identities.  Two normal average kids living and growing up two blocks apart from each other may experience completely different situations that would make them very different from each other.  One of the kids may live in poor/dangerous neighborhood where gangbangers reside.  Just the presence of the gangsters in that particular neighborhood changes the space completely from that of his fellow friend living two blocks away in a residential area where gang-related problems are not an issue.  The environment and space are key factors in developing self-identity.  As an example we could look at people living in a wealthy and safer neighborhood like Bel-Air where the crime rate is low, the median household income is $207,938, which is pretty high, (making it the neighborhood ranked number one in the Los Angeles County for the household income.)  Someone growing up in neighborhood like Bel-Air will most likely have a completely different view of the world than someone who grew up in another neighborhood like Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw, where the crime rates are extremely high, and people don’t exactly live in luxury.  The rich and the poor will have their identities shaped very differently according to the conditions they live in.

The fact of living and growing up in a dangerous/poor neighborhoods or a rich and wealthy ones helps to define how a person shapes his ideals and own-self.  Living in a poor neighborhood people have to be careful and aware at all times.  This may cause them to live in fear and/or to always have their guards up.  With all the robberies, murders, and problems going on one develops a different perspective of the world.  A kid growing up in a wealthy neighborhood where he does not have to worry about being outside at night and even during the day, or leaving his toys in the yard without having them stolen, forms a different view of the world in his mind.  The perception one gets of the world, is mostly gathered from the events and environment in which one lives.  This does not necessarily mean that just because one lives in a particular area or neighborhood he/she will develop an identity that reflects the environment of the neighborhood in which he/she lives.  Like I mentioned before, parents’ actions are what first influence and shape a kid’s identity.  It would not matter as much if the kid lives in the richest neighborhood, if at home he sees violence and experiences abuse of any kind, either physical or mental.  As a result the kid will grow up to be a certain way: aggressive, pacific, honest, kind, abusive, or even a delinquent, etc.  This is how space, and the environment and conditions we live in shape and help to construct one’s identity.

The shaping and developing of identity is a long and complex process that takes time.  There are many factors contributing to this notion of self-identity.  The situations presented to us, the environment and people surrounding us, to my understanding, are the most influential factors in the construction of identity. In different spaces and situations people act differently.  People behave according to the stage that is presented to them.  This translates to the behavior they develop and practice in other normal situations.  Life is a process of learning.  We constantly keep learning new things.  We learn what is bad and what is good.  In a way we learn to be ourselves and act accordingly.  Developing our identities is learning what, why, and who we are.  We may all take different paths, but in the end we all are heading in the same direction, discovering who we truly are. 

Works cited

o  “Do we know who we are? A brief reflection on identity.” reduplikation.net. March 26,      2010. Web. April 29, 2012.

o  Mapping L.A: Neighborhoods. Los Angeles Times. n.d. Web. April 29, 2012.

o  Olson, Eric T. "Personal Identity." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter           2010 Edition.) Edward N. Zalta (ed.) Web. April 29, 2012.

As Nature Made Him #2

The book had an ending that I could have had foreseen.  Like I said in the previous post parents should not force their kid to be a certain gender.  It may have seemed like the best option at first for their kid to be transformed into a girl so he would not suffer as a man growing up, due to the accident he suffered with his genitalia.  Yet, I think humans should not mess with nature.  What we biologically are, noone can change, not even science.  Dr. Money had an interesting idea though.  Everything we know and do, we learn from our parents as we grow up.  We all go through a process called "enculturation" which is when people learn to behave and be a member of a society.  So, if the way we act, and behave can be controlled and shaped as we grow up, it only makes sense that people could control someone's sexual orientation as well.  Nonetheless, that is a biological feature that we are born with.  Males are, or are supposed to be attracted to females and vice versa, so they can reproduce and keep the cycle of life going. So trying to challenge that fact is unthinkable.  It's kind of like teaching an apple tree to grow oranges. 
Like bruce said in the end, we will be who we trully are.  Science might be able to change people's genitalia, but it can't change people's personalities and self indentities.  In the battle of Nature vs. Nurture I think nature will always win.  It's good to do experiments to find new things that could be helpful in the future. But, things, animals ,and humans, are naturally created in a certain way, because that's the way it's supposed to be for the life cycle to go on, and people and science shouldn't mess with that.

As Nature Made Him

After reading a little portion of the book "As nature made him" one of the first things i thought about was bruce's parents' reaction or feelings about what had happened to their son.  It's just unimaginable they way they were feeling, knowing that their son would never live a normal life as a boy or man.  The book argues about gender and sex.  It says that gender is socially constructed.
It is the year 1966 was the accident happens.  After having twins, Ron and Janet discover that one of their sons has difficulties peeing, o they take them to the pedestrian so they could be circumsized and thus solve the problem.  Unfortunately the doctor that does that type of surgery was not available the day that the twins were scheduled to go.  Another doctor takes on the job but the surgery goes wrong and the doctor burns Bruce's pennis.  Ron and Janet are obviously worried about him and his future.  They are concerned about their son's future, sexually as well and socially.  They say he would never be a whole man. 
They later see this guy on tv called Dr. Money who talks about turning males into females and vice versa.  He offered this procedure as a solution for babies born with sexual abnormalities.  Ron and Janet saw this as an opporunity to help make easier the life of Bruce.  I personally am not ok with the fact that people change their sex.  But this story changed my view.  In some cases such as Bruce's it may be the best option for them.  Still, I feel like the parents, despite the fact that their parents, shouldn't decide whether the child should be turned from a boy to a girl or vice versa.  I think they should let the kid grow up and make his own choice, based on what HE/SHE thinks is best for them.  Parents can't just force their kid to be a certain gender, I feel like in such cases (and only in such cases) when the kid comes out with defects with their genitalia, the kid himself at a mature age should make the best option for him/herself.
The book so far seems pretty interesting and has me intrigued about what will happen to Bruce.

Project Space: Movie Theaters

For our project space my group and I decided to explore and observe the environments of different movie theaters.  Each one of us went to a different movie theater on different days.  I, along with a friend went to two theaters on wednesday night.  We first went to Century which is pretty close to my house, but we forgot to check the times for the movies online and so when we got there we saw that no movies were being displayed until like 2 hours later, and we were too late to watch the ones being played at the moment. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but notice the emptyness of the theater.  There were only like 2 or 3 persons already inside that I could see, and not one person outside.  We then headed to AMC in city walk. I don't think I had been to that AMC on a wednesday night before, and i was surprised to see the little amount of people there. Usually when I go there there's a pretty big line but not this time, there was no line at all. Inside the theater there were some people here and there, not many though; either couples or little groups of friends, I would guess ages 17 and over. When we went inside to watch the movie I was shoked to see the room empty.  Literally it was only my friend and I inside the room watching the movie, which happened to be an scary one. Only one more person went in to watch that movie. He was an old man with a big, white beard just by himself, he looked kinda scary.
I went to the Century theater again on a friday night with another friend. We watched the movie that had just come out, Project X. This time the line was much bigger, and I saw many more people. Ages, I would guess, ranged from 15 to like 30 perhaps.  I saw a lot of groups of friends, both females and males, and some groups of just pure males.  People were buying popcorn and sodas at the entrance. Inside the room, unlike wednesday night, it was pretty packed. It was supposed to be only 18+ but I saw some kids that looked much younger in there. During the movie people were cracking up at times, but silent and attentive as well.
Movie theaters serve to entertain people of all ages specially on the weekends. Theaters serve their purpose very well, because it is a place to distract yourself from all the stress that one may have from work or school. However, the environment of a theater depends very much on the day and time you go. If you go on any weekday or in the mornings you're likely to see the theater dead, not many people there. Weekends at night is when movie theaters see major activity.

Shopping

In the article Signs of Shopping Norton claims that the mall is not a public space.  Norton claims neither freedom of speech, nor freedom of assembly is permitted in the malls.  I agree with him on that.  If people dont' have those freedoms at the mall then I guess it can't really be called a public place.  Nevertheless, it can't be called a private place either.  A private place is more of a place for one's self only.  Private places are ones such as home, your bedroom, or the bathroom.  At these places you can do whatever you want without having to worry about strange eyes laying upon you and judging you.  You can do things you wouldn't do in public places.  When you're at the mall you don't have privacy, because there's people all around you, so it indeed cannot be considered a private space.  There are some places within the mall that you could call private though, such as the restrooms and fitting rooms, but other than that everything else is pretty much "public."  So, my question here is, if malls are not public spaces because of what Norton says, and they clearly are not private spaces either, then what kind of space are they?  I guess it could be a mixture of both.
Another thing Norton argues on his article is that malls are mainly for women.  He said that female adolescents spend more time there than money.  I wonder how or based on what he got that fact from.  Yes teenage girls like to spend a lot of time at the mall, but they also buy stuff.  For examle if a teenage girl buys a jacket, some jeans, and perhaps some food, she could spend up to $200, maybe less, depending on what stores she buys her clothes from; now if she's at the mall for 2 or 3 hours, how do you get a ratio of the money and the hours she spent at the mall? One penny for every second? If so, then she spent way more money than time at the mall.  It is also true though, that girls a lot of times like to go to the mall just to look around and leave the mall empty handed. Another reason why women like going to the mall according to Norton is because it is an opportunity for them to escape from their husbands and spend some time with their friends.  Well I don't think that's neccesarily true.  If women wanted some time away from their husbands, they could just go for a walk at the park or talk with their friends at some cafe.
The reason why I think women are inclined to spend more time at the mall than men is because they worry much more about what to wear, how they look, or whether or not they have better, more expensive or the latest clothing trend that came out, than men. I believe our societal structure impacts women more than men.  Commercials for the most part are aimed at women: make-up products, hair dye, straighteners, and all these other beauty products that most women are in a way forced to buy.  Men, I believe don't care about their image as much as women do, so that's why they spend less time going to a place where they sell all these products and things that will help them fit in and look "good."

Project Space

For the project space visit my group and I decided to go to the CSUN Pub & Grill.  At the time we went there really wasn't much people.  We got there at around 9:45, and the people that we saw there were for the most part just grabbing some breakfast and studying, or using their laptops.  There were some other just hanging out with their friends, and perhaps just waiting for their next class.  The purpose of the Pub is for students to just forget about school and relax.  Maybe grab a beer and some food and watch sports on the big screens.  I think the Pub fullfills its purpose, because it does get pretty packed later on during the day with students wanting to relieve their stress and just hang out with friends.  On the walls I also noticed jerseys from CSUN's different sporting clubs and old pictures of athletes and teams from the school.  The Pub at the usu is the place to go if you want to relieve your stress, forget about school, and just hang out with your friends.

Gaming Reality

Sometimes science fiction movies may seem too far off from reality; but when you take a closer look you may discover that that is not always true.  The movie Gamer is one of those movies.  Video games have become an important part in many people’s lives.  Now-a-days they can create their own avatars and live in a fictional world through their video games.  According to a survey American gamers spent over 13 hours a week playing in 2010, and the average gaming time keeps rising. Americans are spending over 7% of their time living their own fictional reality.  The avatars people create and they themselves have a close relationship.  Avatars are like actors playing a script written by the player.

The movie Gamer aims to show a futuristic world where mind-controlling technological advancements allow people to control other people. In this movie death row inmates are given 30 sessions during which they are controlled and played by other humans; a game that very much looks like Counter Strike or Call of duty; except in this case they are not computer-made avatars, they are flesh-and-blood humans being played as avatars.  If they can survive these 30 sessions they would be set free.  Simple video games such as the ones mentioned above are taken to the extreme and turned into a reality in the movie.

The identity of these inmates, called “slayers”, is taken over by whoever is controlling them.  Technically the slayers have sold themselves and their identity in order to get their freedom back.  This is where the movie reflects a world that is very similar to ours. The slayers are somewhat like soldiers from the army.  The reason why the inmates decided to take part of this game was because they wanted freedom and a better lifestyle than the one they had in prison.  When the army recruits people they offer a lot of things, but most importantly they focus on your economic future.  So, when people sign up for the army one of the main reasons why they do it is to be economically stable.  “In March 2007, the overall unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.  In just 18 months it spiked to 9.8 percent, creating a boom for military recruiting… In the military... older recruits see ‘a stable job, stable income.  The younger generation [is] seeking a way to pay for college.’" (Weak Economy Draws Middle-Class Recruits.)   Army recruits and slayers decide to take part of this “game” for the same basic reason: to better their lives; even if it means running the risk of getting killed in the process.

Once the inmates in the movie sell themselves to be part of the game, they are in total control of the player.  The slayers are like puppets to the players.  They follow the orders and do as the player pleases.  Army soldiers are somewhat like slayers in that sense.  Once they are recruited they MUST do as their commander says.  In boot camp they have no other choice but to follow the rules and do as they are told.  They are being controlled.  In the battlefield they open fire only when they are given the order, they go where their commanders send them, and they kill who they are told to kill, just like the slayers.  They both are in danger of being killed, yet they can’t do anything about it but to follow orders.  They are the puppets playing the game.

In the movie Gamer there is also a thing called “society” which is made up of people who just like the slayers are being controlled and played by other people in exchange for money.  This society reflects the sexual fantasies, and wildest thoughts from a great amount of people in our own society.  In Gamer’s society women were seen as sexual objects, which is not too far from true.  Some women in our real society are in fact sexual objects. Just like the people in the society there are real people who sell themselves for money.  An example of this can be prostitutes.  They too sell their bodies and are at mercy and control of the buyer.  The relationship between the prostitute and the buyer is technically the same as the relationship between the player and the society person they play in Gamer. 

Other people in real life, just like in the movie’s society, are in a way being controlled by other people too, though not of course with controllers like the movie suggests.  We live in a society where since infants we were taught how to act, speak, and behave. We grow up thinking something is right or wrong according to what the standards say. And who makes up those standards? People of social high ranking class do, rich people, the ones in power.  Everyone in their own unique societies and cultures are in a way programmed to be the persons they grow up to be.  Social class in this world is very important.  In the movie Gamer the people that controlled and played the slayers and the people in society were rich people.  We all know if you have money in this world, you have power.  The rich class people are the ones that own the big companies, run the politics, and rule the world.  They make up the rules and standards.  Poor and middle class people just work for them to make a living; we follow their rules and their standards which is like being controlled by them.  Our identities are developed upon the rich’s view and ethic of right or wrong, and normal and deviant.  But we don’t usually realize this.  We just live as we were taught to.

This movie may be science fiction and it is supposed to be years from now, but despite the technological advancements, we can still relate what happens in the movie to today’s reality.  Playing videogames is a good distraction from the stress, but one has to be careful and make sure you can distinguish it from real life.  The real world may be hard and tough but is better than living a fictional one.  Gamer is a perfect example that shows how a video game can became a reality.

Works cited

Eddie Makuch. “Time spent gaming on the rise – NPD.” Gamespot.  N.P. May 27, 2010. Web. March 3, 2012 <http://www.gamespot.com/news/time-spent-gaming-on-the-rise-npd-6264092>

Tom Philpott. “Weak Economy Draws Middle-Class Recruits.” Military.com. N.P. October 22, 2009. Web. March 3, 2012. <http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,204238,00.html>

Waggoner. “Videogames, Avatars, and Identity.”  N.P. N.D. <http://moodle.csun.edu/file.php/30273/Waggonner_Videogames_Avatars_and_Identity.pdf>

Essay proposals

For this essay I want to Explore the socioeconomics and class structure of Gamer and/or The Surrogates which is essay topic number 5. Also I want to combine that with my last post about the movie the Gamer and elaborate a little more on how what happens in the movie is not too far from our own reality.

When a videogame becomes reality

 

The movie "Gamer" shows and sends a message that is relatively close to reality. In this movie today's popular video games such as Call of Duty or Modern Warfare are a thing from the past. In the future, according to the movie, people will be playing RPGs but not with computer-made avatars but with actual real people.
Call of duty is a popular game that reflects a reality. You control what happens in the video game. You give orders to the avatar about when and who to shoot. The Army works in a similar way. The high-ranking officials control the rest of the soldiers; tell them who to kill and when they can start fire. Being a soldier in the Army is somewhat like being a slayer. The system controls them by giving them orders.  
"Society" in the movie is made up of people who sold themselves and were being controlled by other people. This is somewhat actually true. People ARE controlled by other people in a way, though not of course with controllers like the movie suggests. We live in a society where since infants we were taught how to act, speak, and behave. We grow up thinking something is right or wrong according to what the standards say. And who makes up those standars? People of socially high ranking class. They say "money runs the world", and the people with the money control the ones without it.
Women in the movie were seen as sexual objects. That is not far from true. In the "society" some women were controlled by men who did whatever they wanted with them. The males behind the screen dressed the females however they wanted and controlled their actions. The females were only free in their own thoughts. This reminds me of prostitutes, who are just like the women living in the "society." Prostitutes sell their bodies and are in complete control of the buyer. They may not want to do what they do with whom they do it, but yet they still do it. Alot of times, and it's sad, girls are kidnapped and forced into prostitution. These girls are like puppets to their "owners" just like the women in Gamer's society. 
People who play videogames excessively are somewhat being controlled by their videogames. They could spend entire days playing and living in a virtual world. What happens in the Gamer is not too far from our reality. It shows how what happens in video games can happen in real life too.

                                            

Fantasy and Reality

Playing video role-playing games (v-RPG's) is a good way to pass the time and entertain yourself, but it can get addicting.  For many people this is more than just a pass time or hobby; it's a lifestyle.  There are people who would spend entire days playing a video game. According to Waggoner in his essay, "Videogames, Avatars, and Identity" the heavy use of RPGs can blur one's ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
I'm not a big fan of modern video games. I grew up playing games such as Mario, Donkey Kong, bomberman and such. I loved playing these games because passing the levels was a challenge, and each time it got harder and harder. I could spend hours and hours in my cousin's computer playing these games because it was so entertaining and in a sense additing. I still play Mario every now and then, (that game never gets old) but in no way have I ever mixed the fantasy of the video game with reality. It would be impossible for me to break bricks with my knuckle or spit fire balls, and most certaintly I wouldn't die if a turtle touched me.
FIFA has always been a game that I actually enjoy playing. Even though I don't play as much, whenever I do I could spend hours trying to improve and win championships with my team. A few years ago my parents bought me a PS2 with the FIFA 06 game along. FIFA was the only game I ever had but it was enough for me to kill some time and enjoy myself. I created my own player and I named him after myself. This, I believe, prompted me to play even more, because my player was doing what I always wanted to do. Play professional Football for the club I like the most, Real Madrid. I lived through him when I played FIFA. He was "living" the life I wanted for myself. He was living my dream. But, this NEVER blured my ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. I always knew that was just a video game and that the reality was another. I love playing football and still hope to someday play professionally, but this takes REAL sweat and effort. I would always rather though, play football for real than play it as a video game. I can't improve my skills by sitting down and pressing bottons.
The reason why some people get addicted to video games, I believe, is because they get to do what they can't in real life. The get to live the lives they want without effort, but most importantly, they never really live but they never really die.

Ghetto Myspace vs. Classy Facebook?


Implications of user choice: The Cultural Logic of "Myspace or Facebook?" by Danah Boyd is an article that treats the Myspace vs. Facebook dilemma.  She claims, based on her data, that Myspace was more "ghetto" and Facebook was a classier social website, mostly for educated people.  There are many reasons why teens chose to use Facebook over Myspace and vise versa.  Some chose Myspace because it is more complex. Others chose Facebook because apparently it was for people of "higher class." Kids and teens chose to be where their friends were. Basically what is being said here is that Facebook was a place for high school honors kids and college students, while Myspace was, well, for "chunts."
Myspace came out first, and it became very popular fast. Almost everyone in my school and in other schools had a Myspace account and went on it daily. It became the sensation among middle, to high scholars. I noticed that at one point, after Facebook came out, a lot of my friend's statuses were like, "Myspace sucks.. I want the old Myspace back.. and, Catch me at Facebook." Rumors were that Tom -the Myspace website creator- had sold the website to another person, (up to this date I still don't know if that was true or not) but since that point on, it seemed like everyone started switching from Myspace to Facebook.
The three main reasons why I switched websites and went to Facebook were:

• Myspace got too complicated to use; too many new features and way too many adds.
• Most of my friends stopped using it and switched as well, so I had not many friends to talk to. It got boring.
• And the main reason is because after a while, I could not longer sign in; either someone changed my password or Myspace just simply wouldn't let me log in.

Facebook does look and sound classier than Myspace, but that doesn't mean that only ghetto people use Myspace or that only high class people use Facebook. Facebook is very diverse; and I see every kind of people using it: from poor to rich, from ignorant to educated, from ugly to pretty. It doesn't matter; kids, teenagers, adults, almost everyone is on Facebook now-a-days, and Myspace seems to be a thing from the past.