Post class blog 9/26

As usual, I walked out of the classroom on Wednesday with a much better understanding of our readings then when I walked in. Reading Lyotard and Habermas were very confusing for me but a couple of the quotes that we discussed in class helped bring clarity to their overall meaning. One of the quotes is from the Lyotard reading “so called realistic representatives can no longer evoke reality except as nostalgia or mockery” (40). I liked how we discussed this quote in comparison to romantic-comedy movies and reality TV. Romantic comedies are romance narratives filled with situations that are supposed to represent real life relationship issues. However, most people don’t fully relate to these films, but the comedic element in them makes up for this lack of actual “reality”. Reality TV as well is a major part of popular culture and it draws people in through the “so called realistic” aspect in it. Most people, however, are fully aware that these drama-filled shows are far from “real”; most of them are actually scripted and edited in order to make the show more interesting for us.

 Another interesting quote was from the Habermas reading, “the cult of the new” (99).  The meaning behind this quote is easily seen in our society today. With our society constantly changing, new technologies, clothes, social media, footwear, etc., generate fanaticism in everyone in their attempt to get the “latest” of everything. They are fixated on keeping up with the new material, regardless of price tags. In class, we mainly discussed the recent commodity, the iPhone 5, which sold 5 million in the first three days. People were putting up tents outside the stores in preparation for the international launch of the new device. It is mainly this reason that Habermas describes it as a cult, emphasizing both the positive and the negative aspects of it.