Media Framing: Frank Ocean Coming Out

vimeo.com/53862095

(Embedding the clip isn't working, so just click and fullscreen it!)

from the collaberative efforts of

Keagan Vaughn, Alex Kirchner, Maggie Carter,

Whitney Scott, Sarah Hudon, and Kirstin Gent

video produced by

Kirstin Gent

My Parasocial Relationship (Obsession) With Darren Criss

Quick bio: Darren Criss is an actor/singer/songwriter that is best known for his role on Glee as Blaine Anderson, the gay prep school transfer student that was dating Kurt Hummel. He got his start with his production group, his best friends from college, Starkid, who created a musical parody (that went viral) of the Harry Potter series called “A Very Potter Musical”, in which Darren starred as Harry and wrote all the music for. He had some small roles in television, got his big break coming onto Glee, starred in “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway after Daniel Radcliffe, has completed his first movie, “Imogene”, alongside Kristen Wigg and Matt Damon, and has become an internet phenomenon. And he’s sexy as hell ok.

OOOOOOKAY so, I have this really disgusting affection for Darren that has been rooted deep down ever since I first watched “A Very Potter Musical” in 2010 with some of the girls who lived on my floor. It was hilarious, and I was instantly in love with the group of college students who’s love for Harry Potter, which I share, grew into something sensational for fans. With the sequel, it was easy to fall even deeper in love with Darren and his wonderful lyrics and beautiful voice. He had a big moppy head of curly hair and big hazel eyes.

And then he landed a role on Glee. When his character was introduced, he lead an extremely swooning acapella version of “Teenage Dream” while dressed in prep school attire and hair cut and gelled back like Elvis. It was pretty much the most unfair event of my life. He looked ridiculously handsome cleaned up and dapper as could be.

Honest to god, I have never been this obsessed with a celebrity before. Like, I remember being young and in love with the Backstreet Boys. When I watched Lord of the Rings for the first time, I fell in love with Legolas and eventually with Orlando Bloom. But those were nothing compared with how much I adore Darren. I think he’s the most wonderful person in the world. Like, I watch everything he’s in almost all the time. Although it’s weird, because it almost hurts to watch him in interviews being adorable and funny and sexy and my god yeah it hurts. But I will cancel anything to watch him in an episode of Glee. I pay money for every song that Darren sings in on Glee. I’ve tried numerous times to go see Darren in concert but I’ve so far failed. I honestly think I would cry if I ever got within 100 meters of him. I fear for my sanity when I watch my desktop backgrounds changing every minute to multiple photos of Darren shirtless. Basically, I have a problem.

It’s not that I think of myself as dating him, it’s nothing delusional, just kind of an obsession. But it’s weird because I’ve never felt something like this about a man that I’ve never even met.

I’m kind of hoping that it fizzes over, honestly.

How To Not Hate "Hipsters"

(To be completely honest, I was really bothered when we had this discussion a long time ago. I didn’t really want to blog about it, because I don’t want to get annoyed about it again, but I’m out of time to be picky and I need blog posts.)

“Hipsters” are thought of as people who are walking trend billboards, wearing certain things because they’re in style and doing things only because they think it makes them more likable. They are thought of as misguidedly pretentious and are pointed out pretty much only based on their appearance. They live off of popular and trending imagery.

So, these people are one of the most hated demographics in society. We shouldn’t hate people, though. What’s an easy way to not hate them?

Don’t freaking worry about them. Worry about yourself.

Trends affect everyone, regardless of what we may think. Somewhere in our lives, fashion and fads are always spilling over into our style and our behaviors. To hate a specific kind of person, because they choose to dress in a trendy way, is not ok.

Now I’m not saying it’s ok to be pretentious, because that pisses me off, too. But to hate them because of what they like isn’t much better. It isn’t everyone else’s call how honest they are in their interests. We all like to put out a good impression, and I feel like dressing well and doing different activities doesn’t automatically make you a hipster.

This also doesn’t really apply to people who are seeking attention based on things they have no experience or interest in. But that’s more of a, like, sociopathic need for attention. Just trying to impress a particular kind of person. Yes, that’s annoying, but it doesn’t give anyone the right to mistreat that person or judge that person. Just avoid them if it really makes you upset.

Overall, my bitchy post is mostly an attempt to get everyone to understand: don’t worry about other people. Stop judging other people. Be yourself and let others do the same. Do unto others and you would have others you.

When Analysis of Disney’s Princesses Becomes Defensive Nonsense

I’ve watched Disney films ever since I was little, just like every other child in America. I had my fascinations with certain ones, wanting to be Pocahontas most of my childhood, and eventually wanting to be Jasmine, and then Belle. And then back to my goal of being Pocahontas.

I have had my share of self-esteem issues, but it’s never been because of those movies or characters.

Honestly, I think that people are always looking for far-fetched reasons for their problems. I think that we are really quick to blame the common traits of little girls on Disney’s agenda, which honestly I think is only to make money, but whatever.

Little girls want to be princesses because they are glorified in children’s movies. Boys want to be action heroes or kings because they are also glorified in children’s movies. But if those kids weren’t watching kids movies, they’d find something to look up to elsewhere. If their source of admiration is their next door neighbor who plays basketball, they’ll probably want to be a basketball player. If a little girl’s next door neighbor wants to be a basketball player, she’ll probably want to play basketball.

It all depends on the exposure of the child to an admirable figure. Children naturally imitate or mimic what they see as normal or good. Sometimes what is bad. I don’t think that these behaviors have as much of an effect on the rest of a child’s life as people believe. And if its something that parents really think is a problem, then just curb your child’s time watching influential material.

A Reflection Upon Video Games in My Life

Like all kids, video games found their way into my life and have been an obsession ever since I was first introduced to a Nintendo 64 system at a friend’s house. My parents bought me a Gameboy Color  and “Pokemon Blue” when I was 8 years old, my own Nintendo 64 with “Ocarina Of Time” probably a year or two later, and a Playstation 2 and “Kingdom Hearts” when I was 13.

Mom encouraged me not to over-do it, not to play them constantly. I got outside and played with the kids in the neighborhood. I had a steady balance of inside entertainment and exercise, probably thanks to the rules established by the parentals.

I still love video games, and lately I’ve been thinking about the effects they’ve had on my life. I probably know far too much about my favorite games, from far too much time invested over the years, but I think that those games have taught me some important things.

Kingdom Hearts is a story-driven rpg about a boy who is destined to save the universe from darkness and evil. The morals, characters, and overall story has inspired me with new ideas about right and wrong, a theory on friendship and cherishing memories, and something to think about when times are tough.

As far as the Pokemon series, I’m convinced that they are the most complex and ingenius video games ever created. While the games seem violent, capturing creatures and utilizing them to battle for prizes and tournaments, the game teaches strategy, prioritizing, management of resources, budgeting, sportsmanship, logic, and many other valuable characteristics that I really take for granted. I haven’t given much more thought to it until recently, but my god, I can’t believe the complex nature of those games. And I’m so happy that I picked those up at such a same age.

Facebook should be used as an app, not a hobby

Last week we entered a discussion about Facebook and how people falsely represent themselves or that they create a kind of fake-friendship web for users.

I've been researching correlations between the use of Facebook and the increasing statistical findings on loneliness (and the health issues that come with that) for a different class, and I was really bothered by how everyone in the class was discussing their utilization of Facebook.

Studies have shown that Facebook, while it was meant to keep us connected to others, has actually made us distance ourselves from the rest of the world. We get too wrapped up in the idea of some kind of self-promotion that we isolate ourselves and lose physical interaction with people, with those SAME people that are constantly contacted. It affects our health, can lead to depression, and deprivation of self-esteem and humanity. This leads into multiple and various affects of the over-use of social networking, but I'll stick to what I really want to say.

Facebook should never be used as a hobby. I feel like people have started using it as a kind of game, almost. Like, the more friends you have and the better representation you publish of yourself, the more socially acceptable points that you earn. It's just a shame.

As I stated in class, I used to be addicted to Facebook like so many in class voiced that they currently are. That they hate Facebook and yet they continue to use it. They hate a lot of the people that they're "friends" with. They can't stand people that use Facebook as a diary. They don't care about the party that so-and-so was at this past weekend. I used to be "friends" with a lot of people I wasn't actually friends with. I used to obsess over what they were doing with their lives and comparing mine to theirs.

I hated the way that my Facebook made me feel. I wanted to delete it. And then, I decided that I would look into why it makes me feel bad about myself and what was the problem. I discovered that being "friends" with people who weren't actually my friends made me feel alone. Looking at photos of other people and how different they look in appearance made me feel ugly. Seeing the constant changing events and happenings in others calendars made me feel like a hermit. Never getting comments on my wall or "Likes" on my photos made me feel irrelevant.

So I changed everything.

I deleted everyone I wasn't really friends with. I separated myself from the opportunity to look at these people and judge their lives as well as prevent them from judging mine. I stayed friends with only necessary contacts, family, and my close friends. I deleted over 500 photos. I cleared out my interests and information, clearing my self-presenting guilt.

I only check Facebook a couple times a day. I message with family and professional contacts. I use it to save and share pictures of my close friends. And that's... about it. I broke my overuse of it.

Whatever, I'm not trying to say that I'm better than everyone else because I found out how to make Facebook work for me. All I'm trying to relay here is that I really hope that everyone steps back and takes a different approach to it and other social networking. Don't take things too seriously. Focus on what's really important instead of on Facebook and the social presentation of yourself. Find out how to make Facebook support what is really important for you rather than deterring your perspective of priorities.