Gabler

Gabler’s main argument is going against Boorstin regarding celebrities. Gabler believes not all celebrities are already known. “Celebrities are known for being well-known. They are known for living out real-life melodramas”(207). Gabler describes celebs “as a form of narrative art” (207). He says this because celebrities can be constructed just like narratives are. Later in his reading he talks about the fictional creations of the characters and how spectators view them in this way. The audience find ways to connect with the characters that they are aware of are not really like that. Viewers do not have to suspend their disbelief because there is no disbelief to suspend. All of this is necessary for fiction to be successful. Celebrities have costumes all of the time which goes to show they are not always themselves. The public almost makes them into celebs because of their expectations. Fiction has suspense therefore you can never know what to expect from them. Viewers also relate to celebs as well because of “voyeurism”(208). This is the gaining of sexual pleasure just from seeing another person (celebrity). This is how “celebrities are unavoidably contrasted with the fictional narratives in which most celebrities find themselves”(208). He later talks about how celebrities live out real life melodrama as some, and sometimes that often ends with death such as some of the celebs Gabler mentioned in his reading. In the end, you realize celebs are real people just like us; they just have to put on an act at times.

Rosen

In “The Naked Crowd”, Jeffrey Rosen begins with talking about 9/11 and all of the devastating pictures that have been posted across the nation. He makes a claim that these Portraits of Grief homogenize people into one genre. It brings a sort of emotional connection. He later explains, “people try to prove trustworthiness by revealing details of their personal lives to prove that they have nothing to hide before a crowd whose gaze is turned increasingly on all individuals that compose it”(415). This leads to how people believe they should be honest and open, but that would require letting down their guard and sometimes people need that guard for their private life. Rosen talks about sincerity and authenticity, which is virtually the same thing despite authenticity, is allowing you to be completely exposed emotionally to others. Sometimes this may lead to people appearing like they’re expressing everything even though they are not, which is sometimes necessary. He then brings up “personal branding” and explains that you are the one that does the branding of yourself, but you do not put on a false front. Towards the end Rosen brings all of this together while talking about “the comfort of strangers”. He states, “The personal branding movements is based on the same fantasy that underlay the Portraits of Grief, which is the fantasy that people can achieve emotional intimacy with strangers”(420). All of the country understood and expressed emotions after seeing these photos and realizing the extremity of what has happened, and they choose to share the families pains together in unity. 

Sobchack

            Vivian Sobchack explains what she argued for 25 years ago regarding violence in the beginning of her essay, “The Postmorbid Condition”. She made this argument after new movies were coming out that brought an entirely new meaning to the word violence. Since then, these types of movies have progressively gotten worse in regards to violence. Years ago death served more of an honorary purpose, and was more recognized. Sobchack uses Saving Private Ryan a great example. She states “graphic physical damage and the violent “squandering” of bodies and lives is “redeemed” to social purpose and meaning, its senselessness made sensible by its (re)insertion in a clearly defined. . .moral context”(432). This explains that death was at one point given meaning and justification. Sobchack uses technology as a source to understand how society now views death, especially in the media. In most movies today you will find countless numbers of brutally murdered bodies, but the issue is that no one is taken back by the shameful killing. People just die and we move on. Technology has brought the brutality in films to a whole new level. Sobchach mentions “grotesque realism” and how it is a careless treatment of violence used throughout films (431). People are not only utilizing technology because of all the intense graphics, but are unaware that they are the victims of it as well because of the overwhelming and unnecessary violence. This brings her to talk about “postmorbid condition” which she relates it to “postmodern condition”. When she talks about this she explains that life and death lose its meaning. People are no longer emotionally impacted by these tragic events due to technology in the media.

Cohen

Cohen argues that there are multiple monsters within our society. Towards the beginning of Cohen’s essay, he describes monsters and their physical features and how they are always going to appear no matter the circumstances, but as you read further into his essay he brings into detail that people in our society are the real monsters and may be unaware of it. He takes actual monsters from stories and characterizes people in our world today as these monsters and how they relate. He even uses biblical, mythological, and masculine/feminine references to enhance the severity of his essay. This reading also explains Cohen’s views on inequality because of the hierarchical system in our world. In the final thesis he states that our children are the monsters because of how adaptable they are to our society, yet they still obtain freedom because they are so young and have little to worry about in the world until they are older and can make a change. Each of Cohen's theses has a specific argument or claim, yet they are all intertwined with one another. Within the seventh theses, he connects each of them to bring it all together.

Cohen addresses his argument within each theses, but through different approaches. The first describes the abnormal features of a monster. The second states that monsters will never leave us, and they are each connected to a cultural moment. Third is that monsters cannot be categorized, and each monster is created by oneself. Fourth explains that monsters are far beyond the ordinary and can break boundaries, in which this is not condoned, yet people are envious of this. Fifth goes off of the fourth in which monsters have no boundaries. In the sixth, Cohen allows us to realize monsters are created by people and it is just a fear that people are afraid to take the risk to share the same freedom as monsters have. The seventh thesis it ties all of these together. It states that monsters can be children, which is a possibility, but they can be much more than that. There are monsters everywhere in society.  It is our fear that allows them in our lives, which is why there are so many. If people were not afraid to  fight for the freedom that monsters have then there would be no monsters. The monsters are what live within each of us.

Medhurst

In Medhurst's essay, "Batman, Deviance, and Camp", Medhurst's begins with in depth and detailed information about his views on Batman and the background of why he views Batman the way that he does. Batman was not the idol figure to Medhurst as he appeared to be to everyone else. Although not many would have ever come to this assumption, but Medhurst gives good reasoning as to why he thinks Batman is a homosexual. He uses concrete details from episodes to prove his idea. He explains the Batman lives with another man, his butler Alfred, and has plentiful flowers around the house (310). Not only that, but wears night gowns as well to bed (310). This may be seen as deviance to some, but this all relates back to camp. Medhurst tries to prove the Batman is gay in multiple ways, but in reality everyone is aware that he is not. You can make almost anything seem as something it is not. Medhurst does a great job of using camp by remaking the normal. The normal to us is that Batman is straight, but Medhurst makes Batman being a homosexual the normal throughout his essay. In the end everyone knows that Batman is indeed not gay, but this essay gives other perspective as to how idol figures such as this one can easily be interpreted as something else. As Medhurst states clearly, "Most camp humor has a relatively short life span, new targets are always needed, and the camp aspect of Batman has been squeezed dry. (318)" This idea the Batman is gay is just temporary; something new will always come along to take its place.

Boys Don't Cry

In the film, Boys Don't Cry, emotions are sure to arise. Hilary Swank delivered viewers a deep understanding of how hard it must be to live the life of being a lesbian. The opening and ending act proves how difficult it must be to allow people to know the truth about how some people really are. It is nothing that people have any control over, but some are hurt or killed because they cannot help that they are attracted to the same sex. "Brandon" kept her private life a secret because she was afraid of exactly what happened to her. She was brutally raped and died simply because she was in love with another woman. "Brandon" was a sweet young woman and respected others. She was not liked by the police too much, but she more than likely rebelled due to all of the criticism she received because she was a lesbian. She tried to live her life as a man, but she always got herself into trouble. In the beginning, the older brother of a girl she dated threatened to beat her after they found out about her secret. In the end she suffered a great amount because an entire family and friends found out their daughter had been messing around with what they thought was a man, but just so happened to be a woman. This was a expressive film an gives people a different perspective to better understand the struggles some people in our society face .

Jenkins

In the Jenkins reading, “Never Trust a Snake”: WWF Wrestling as Masculine Melodrama, he displays multiple emotions and hardships that come with wrestling. The personal experiences that are connected with wrestling vary with everyone, but through it all it builds a bond in the wrestling community that most people will never understand. Jenkins goes into great detail about the background and history of wrestling and the way the game works. Jenkins states wrestling as “a form which bridges the gap between sport and melodrama, allows for the spectacle of male physical prowess but also for the exploration of the emotional and moral life of its combatants”(Jenkins 297). Not only does this state that wrestling is an ideal place to show anger, aggression, and other emotions, but it also goes into greater detail of having authority and the ring being related to having power. Jenkins also explains how the working class enjoys wresting because they believe strength shows moral authority, which will always prevail (300). Within the “Invincible Victims” section, there is a lot said about how men in the sport will “overcome the forces which subordinate them” (306). This is where I believe the working class men are the ones who show their moral values and choose to fight back. Jenkins gave a great example of Hulk Hogan when he was knocked down and beaten, but instead of lying on the ground, ready to accept defeat he chose to get up and fight back (306). I was confused when Jenkins talks about “Seeing Is Believing”. He tells us that people recognize that the sport is fake, but pretend it to be real. I do not know what he means by that exactly, but he gives great analogies.