4th Hour Final Blog

What is the main argument the author is making?
Jenkins argues that pop culture has a growing influence on political culture. Whether it be activist magazines or documentaries, the influence has been more noticable in recent years.

What support does he offer?
He lists a series of websites created that involve certain support groups for a candidate (moveon.com and meetup.com). How the websites either rallied around a politician or an issue, and there were anti-George Bush implications from one of the websites. He mentions Governor Howard Dean's Campaign's use of the internet as well. He mentions gaming, and government through the SIMS game.

Do you agree or disagree with the main argument?
I happen to agree with the main argument, but in a very limited way. I am a registered independent. Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) made a comment on the show about how Undecided voters are the dumbest people out there. I felt the 2008 Elections were a Catch-22 example. I was not swayed to think McCain was worse than Obama through all the anti-conservative advertising, and I was not swayed to think Obama was better through all of his advertising. The fact is though, on late night TV, George Bush is everyone's punchline. The republican party is in a clear struggle, but it is made known through the John Stewarts and Bill Mahers of the world. The 2008 Campaign also saw Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen concerts, both endorsing the same candidate. These concerts raise awareness, and I feel influenced more people to vote.

Pop Culture is not always a heavy influence though. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 released 4 months before the 2004 elections. The movie heavily criticized George W Bush, yet Bush was still re-elected.

Is the author's support relevant and believable?
I believe so. He cites websites that exist, tactics that were used, and other means that are out there. There may be a completely different side to the argument that is not addressed in this chapter, but he uses credible information to help validate his point.

In what ways does this chapter relate to the 2008 presidential election?
As I stated earlier, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel hosted free concerts to support Barack Obama. That example is the first thing I think of from the 2008 election. Obama had so much celebrity endorsement, and when you looked into popular culture, you could not find much support for Bush, and Bush was actually bashed so hard, that his party took a fall. The political comic shows were very critical of the Republican Party. In fact, the only joke I ever heard about Obama was how popular he was, and Jay Leno's show scripted an Obama-Mia video (in relation to Mamma Mia's release).

The internet has also been a huge tool. The President is always in focus, and his party follows him. George Bush was a Republican with the lowest ever approval rating. That was a headline constantly on major websites, Bush's approval rating drops. It was told from a neutral and fair standpoint, but you read about him not having support, and the people who are affiliated with him are not gonna have support. So I think the media's and especially late night's portrayal of Bush lead to a Democratic win in 2008.

In what ways did the 2008 election seem different?
There was a lot made about the internet, and I just feel the use of social networking sites had a bigger impact than any pop culture aspect. Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter are all popular, and they were flooded with campaign ads.

What is digital democracy?
The combination of electronics and politics being used together to help effect polotical issues. A very relevant example is Alphaville of the SIMS video game.

Discuss your understanding of the term culture jamming.
A change in the portrayal of media. Given programs like Photoshop and Moviemaker, it is possible for anything today to be changed into a different meaning. Howard Dean's speeches, or another example is a lot of online pictures of George W. Bush. They are often used for comedic purposes I believe.

Discuss the connections between fan culture and politics.
We stated certain support websites for candidates earlier. It is almost a sense of community belonging, if people can share a common interest in a candidate or issue, and then expand their group, then that makes a huge impact. A lot of people are scared to express their views alone, but if they have others that agree, the group grows. This leads to rallies and protests which are huge parts of our country's history.

How does the idea of "play(ing) with power on a microlevel" (p. 239) relate to the readings and discussion from last week?
The idea comes from the SIMs game and Alphaville. Giving children the chance to govern is a unique concept because they are not free to do so in real life (not at the time they're children).

Last week, we spoke about roleplaying based on the Harry Potter series. This allows children also to do something they can not do in real life. In real life, they can't fly on brooms and use wands, but in their roleplaying, they can. In real life, they can't govern over any sort of opoulation, and make big decisions. In the SIMS, they can.

The use of imagination is a link between the readings, but Harry Potter roleplaying also created controversy among ownership rights. Anyone playing the SIMS game legally owns it, and therefore such controversy does not exist.