January 6, 2007

As a Communication student, being critical of media and pop culture is supposed to come as second nature. Misrepresentations of society, unrealistic scenarios, propagation of consumption are the evils that television shows, movies, magazines and music unleash upon the world I am not only supposed to be appalled at this--I am supposed to be the anti-pop superhero, championing indie music, foreign films and adbusters. Therefore, does it make me a bad person that I am no such superhero?
This is a picture of my favourite television show, Sex and the City, playing on my laptop. I own all seven dvd sets, worn down by wear so much that the cases have all long broken. I know this show by heart, have memorized the shape of the scenes, the outfits, the intonnations of dialogue. To me, this is more than a show--it is a way of life that I can envision myself in. The clothes, the city, the careers...they are electrifying. This show represents what I have wished for, as a writer to write such clever dialogue, or to be as successful as Carrie and publish a novel, to such relationships with my friends, my loves.
My educated self says that this is the plan all along, mass marketed to sell higher ratings. But the wide-eyed dreamer in me does not care. For anything that incites such hope and happiness can't be all bad.