Comics in/is my future ?

            Just before sitting down to write this blog, I was playing the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Xbox game with my friends. I have been playing this game, with Batman as my avatar for about two years, yet never realized how closely associated I am with this media artifact. No, it is not the TV or video games, however it the comics. Many of the games I play are based on a comic book that was published a long time ago. Comics are a form of artistic media that first established itself in the late 19th and early 20th century. They have played a very important role in the development of society. Since the early years, comics were ranged from to jokes, satires and caricature, but also began to tackle aspects of political, religious and social life. They not only allowed us to express ourselves, but also given us a form to daily entertainment. Many comics and comic characters from back then are still prevalent in our lives today. They carry similar messages and discuss similar topics.

            Since childhood, I have been exposed to comics, whether it was in Readers Digest, the newspaper, or my own books. The characters in comic books have extended their presence beyond their comic origins; they are now seen in movies, games, theme parks and even on one of my t-shirts. Today’s mass media have brought them to the forefront of public consciousness. The Comic-Con International convention is one example that reveals the importance of comics in today’s youth. The comic books I read in my childhood have shaped me into what I am now. My love for superhero movies and games such as IronMan, Batman, SuperMan and the forthcoming movie The Avengers has surely been inculcated by comics. It is not just me, On the other hand, my cousin who is now an engineer claims that it has not Batman but rather Dilbert who shaped him and his viewpoint.

Babson Dorm room: Comics are still in my life

Vuvuzela: a medium of voice and noice

            For most travelers, standing in long check-in lines at airport front desks seems to be an arduous task. Everyone, including me is just soo restless to reach their destination. Yet, I am a still somewhat different. I enjoying observing others while in line, taking note of what they wear, where they could be from and what luggage they carry. This time, while coming back here from my home in South Africa, I noticed a rather interesting piece of luggage– the vuvuzela.

Vuvuzela

             I had once thought that the vuvezela is just a plastic instrument created for the 2010 World Cup; but it’s something much more grandeur. Although it has gained a lot of fame and notoriety during the World Cup, its concept has existed in the South African culture for a long period of time. Traditionally made and inspired from a Kudu horn, the vuvuzela was used to summon distant villagers to attend community gatherings. Although many have denied the history of the Kuduzela, it similarities with the ancient Jewish horn Shofar, at least to me cannot be ignored. It was an important medium used by numerous villages in Africa to communicate to one other. Even during the times of Apartheid, many claim that “when there was much sadness in our country, the vuvuzela brought us great joy." Furthermore, as noted by the Predident of FIFA, "the vuvuzelas and drums are like a signature of the culture of Africans and African football. It is part of your celebration and we cannot deny that culture.” 1

Kudu Horn

Shofar

             The ingrained culture of the vuvuzela in every South African can still be seen. At every football (soccer) match I attended, there was not one person without a vuvuzela. We blew that noisy instrument for the entire length of the match, enjoying and cheering our teams to the fullest. Once I got into the rhythm with others, I could truly feel the message being passed from me to the players out at the ground. It felt as though the players in every team could recognize the different styles and pattern of vuvuzela music; it felt like I could talk with them through the vuvuleza. 

Courtesy of Boogieblast,2 a web site dedicated to the vuvuzela, here are some alternative uses:

1. Cricket Bat. [game similar to baseball]
2. Hearing Aid.
3. Petrol funnel.
4. Water sprayer. (force trumpet side down into water)
5. Drinking funnel. Nuff said.
6. 4G mobile communication
7. Walking stick,
8. Light saber. (Just insert a torch) as seen on Starwars….
9. Jousting Stick (simply insert one into another.)
10. And of course… supporting any team/thing you like… 

1. http://fanultra.posterous.com/la-historia-de-la-vuvuzela
2. http://www.boogieblast.co.za/vuvuzela.htm

Jai Ho(Victory) to Pandora

            Music has always been prevalent in my life, from waking up to a friendly tune from my radio clock, or singing bollywood songs in the shower, to learning how to play the guitar and the clarinet. My parents clearly remember the day they bought me my first iPod. But for me, it is now a blur. The frenzy of the iPod is as good as dead to me. I don’t even remember the last time I bought new songs. That is not because I’m too lazy, but because of the revolution of the internet radio, Pandora.

            The most exciting part of writing this blog was actually listening to JaiHo on Pandora. The song is just amazing and I don’t even need to buy it. I have downloaded the application on my smart-phone, my iTouch and have also forced my brother to get it. Listening to music is so ingrained in my life that I cannot get away from Pandora, just as I couldn’t from my iPod when I first got it. Pandora has completely changed the way I listen to music. I no longer have to wait for YouTube to load or spend money on iTunes. It is so much quicker and easier to listen to what I want. But the most important aspect of Pandora to me is that I can even listen to bollywood songs. Having lived outside my home country for more than five years, I have lost touch with my roots. Yet Pandora has brought me back to who I really am.  

Define Media: Socio-Cultural Impact of Media

          The timeless importance of media is reflected through the grave impact it has had on society and culture. The clichéd expression “the pen is mightier than the sword” and the French Revolutionary Napolean’s famous saying, “Three hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets” (McLugan 13) both demonstrate how different facets of media are valued more than instruments of war. Furthermore, for centuries it has given us great access to innovation and change. It has a broad scope that involves an entire complex of events connecting one to the other, essentially making the “globe no more than a village” (McLugan 13). By examining personal experiences and features of media analyzed by media experts such as Marshall McLuhan, David Crouteau and William Hoynes, I have derived an understanding of media to be an underlying extension of man that facilitates communication and brings socio-cultural change, but also adds an amputating effect.

             In this era, media has become an addiction to not only me but society as a whole. I cannot imagine not using the internet to gather knowledge; or even worse not using my laptop to write this reflection paper. Without media our lives would not be as what it is now. We would be a different social breed, with communication limited to our bodies. For us, as also expressed by McLuhan in his novel Understanding Media, it is media that introduces a “change of scale or pace or pattern” into human affairs and society (McLuhan 8). Ironically, by taking media for granted, society has become more aware yet also negligent of its harmful changes. Gradually, we have become oblivious to the changes that have occurred and society continues to accept them without approval or disapproval. The socio-cultural change resultant from media is so significant that media can also be seen an amputation to man. It is so ingrained in our daily lives, that in essence, without these extensions, without media; we are almost inept at communication and change. As also explained my McLuhan, we have been put in a "narcissistic hypnosis" that prevents us from seeing the real nature of the media (McLuhan 11). Furthermore, McLuhan explains that media has steadily altered “sense ratios of perception…without any resistance” (McLuhan 18).

            One can always argue that changes brought along by media are for the good too. Media has extended our human capabilities to great heights allowing us to effectively function in this society.  Society with the help of media has acquired the ability of performing the easiest to the most dangerous social operations with minimal attachment. Similarly, McLuhan claims that the introduction of the money media caused an “irresistible revolution, culminating in the breakdown of feudal government” and a positive reorganization of “the sense life of people” (McLuhan 19). In addition, using the French Revolution as an example, he further argues that only through the advent of printed word had overlaid the ancient feudal and oral society and homogenized the French culture from north to south.

            Media being an underlying extension of man plays a very significant role in the formation of our socio-cultural identity. It has the ability to continuously provide extensive amounts of information at the tips of our fingers and bring change in both current and historic times. Most functions that we perform today resulting in change are channeled through some form of media. It is a facilitator of information among people and often also acts “as a bridge between people’s private lives and their relation to the public world” (Crouteau and Hoynes 18). Yet, the amputating numbing effect of media cannot be ignored either.

Works Cited:

Croteau, David, and William Hoynes. Media Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge, 2003. Print.

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media the Extensions of Man. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: MIT, 2002. Print.