Artifact selection

I have chosen video games as the pop culture artifact I will examine this semester. Whether we realize it or not video games pervade countless aspects of our society. While they may have started with simple roots in Pong, video games are now as commonplace as movies and books. Little children play on game consoles in their homes. Old people are playing Wii. Construction workers are playing WOW. The number of citizens who play games is astounding. Even if you claim that you don’t play video games you probably don’t realize that you actually are. Solitaire at work and those cheesy games at the bar count as video games. Our society has evolved the entertainment of a movie or book into a medium that draws on the qualities of both while most importantly being interactive. You cannot interact and make calculated decisions while reading a book (Choose Your Own Adventure does not count) or watching a movie but you are forced to interact and think with the story of a game. Games are the evolution of entertainment in our world today. While there are games of all types of complexity their ultimate goal is to delight their audience while forcing them to actively think and interact. I want to investigate and explore the effects video games have on our everyday society. I want to see how the influence of games has grown over time, how it is influencing now, and what it may bring in the future. Hopefully as the semester continues we all will be able to see how games are a beneficial medium and what its effects are.

5 things

My favorite movie is the Matrix. I like the matrix because not only is it an entertaining movie but the philosophical ideas and concepts dealt with are very thought provoking. It challenges the passivity of people today with an in your face metaphorical story. Musically my favorite artist is Eminem. Once again i appreciate his music because it is aesthetically catchy and pleasing but more importantly because of the clever and skillful way in which he mocks, dissects, and explores problems and issues in the world today. My favorite tv show right now would have to be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This show is flat out hilarious and uses many character stereotypes to tackle all kinds of entertaining political, social, a current issues. My favorite commerical off the top of my head would be the Cadbury eyebrow chocolate commercial. This commericail is very quirky and definitely challenges the norm. I like it because it succeeds in entertaing due to its complete wackiness and seemingly non existent connection between chocolate and eyebrows. In a way it is "jamming" our regular train of thought and turning our brains a different way. My favorite comic would have to be the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. This is a very abstract work in which we follow the adventures of the literal "king of dreams" or the "sandman". Personifying this mythical character provides for a very thought provoking read and makes one think outside the box. All of these things which i have chosen are very satirical items and their influence gains power from this. By commentating and investigating those things that are happening around us in a funny or thought provoking way these shows and books are helping us explore and learn.