Connecting the origins of the romance mythology to contemporary ideas of romance

As a little girl, I remember being exposed to Disney movies that promoted chivalry. Some (snow whilte, sleeping beauty, and cinderella) portrayed the classic "damsel in distress." While Joseph Campbell addresses this as a misconception of what chivalry should be, the theme is woven throughout many stories, and gives us a picture (even if it is an incorrect picture) of how romance between a man and woman should function. Other Disney films have stronger felmale heroines (Pocahontas and Mulan,) but in they still maintain validity because of the connection that the female character has to the male hero. Each sends the message to girls that "someday my prince will come."

This idea places too high an importance on romance in the eyes children, especially little girls, at too young of an age. These stories have become staples in our popular culture and are sending a tweaked version of truth. As Scott Farrell wrote in his essay discussing Joseph Campell's ideas about chivalry "the Code of Chivalry was originally a radical concept that shook the very foundations of European society." The Disney movies that we are exposed to as American children have adapted and changed this original code of chivalry into something different. I believe that this leads to mixed messages about romance that the media sends to older target groups such as teens and young adults. People in these age groups are searching for love, and finding that the stories they were told when they were yonger were in esence, lies.

So, we see two different "tricks of media" develop. The first is that of female empowerment. This is portrayed through shows like "Commander in Chief," the media's hype about Hillary Clinton's run at the presidency, and a varitey of magazines, clubs, and even tv broadcasts created to help young women. While promoting female success scholastically and in society is a good thing, it also has an impact on our idea of the romance myth. Women who have realized the flaws of the Disney movies they grew up on may try to aviod being let down by a lie by becoming powerful and successful, and ignoring natural instincts to desire marriage and a family life. The second media trick is that the media continues to play on our desires for a relationship that will fulfill the idea of romance that we saw in films as kids. Movies such as these generally fall under the category of "chick flicks." Some of these would include Pretty Woman, Maid in Manhattan, and Two Weeks Notice. These all portray women (and men) who are incomplete until they find that perfect someone that they can live happily ever after with.

It's easy to see how these two different messages, or tricks, can lead to a rather confused culture. We're being told not to give up hope on our dream of the "perfect" romance, yet at the same time we're being told that it's wrong to put a romantic relationship at a place of value higher than our careers.

The functions of symbols in the Semiotic Domain of "Runners"

Can you spot a serious runner? There are a number of symbols that runners have associated with them. Some of these may be obvious, while others can be noticed only by the trained eye. When I began running, I figured it was a pretty basic sport, all you need is a pair of running shoes and you're on your way. Over the past years I've been running, however, I've realized that there is a lot more about it than that. While for some people running can be simply a pastime that they enjoy on occassion, others are hardcore about it. The different symbols associated with running can help you identify who a runner is, and how serious they are about running.

We'll start with the basic symbols.

#1 shoes and watches
The two main symbols associated with running are running shoes, and stopwatches. Let's look at shoes first. There are a variety of different shoes you can select when it comes to running. There are your basic Nike and Adidas, that everyone knows about. While a lot of serious runners do swear by some of the elite models of running shoes these companies produce, other novice runners will buy these brands because they are more mainstreem. For example, you're probably not going to find a serious runner wearing Nike Shox. The shox don't reall give that much support, and wear easily from heavy milage. You will, however, find serious runners sporting Nike Frees, a new type of shoe recently enginereed to simulate the effects of barefoot running. The more popular brands of running shoes worn by runners are Asics and Mizuno. These two brands can be a symbol of someone who is committed to the sport of running. Second are watches. If you spot someone wearing Asics or Mizuno shoes, plus a stop watch, you can almost gurantee that they are a runner. Especially if they have a watch with the face on the inside of the wrist. Wearing your watch this way keeps you from breaking form while you run.

#2 Parafanailia of famous runners and Races
Another way to spot a runner is through the various running parafanaila they may own. For example the "go pre" shirts are a symbol of meaning for runners everywhere. They commemorate steve prefontaine and his accomplishments, while inspirinig runners of today. Another symbol that goes along with the "go pre" trend are the colors green and yellow. These are the colors of the University of Oregon, the college that Steve Prefontaine attended. Nike has recently formed a line of clothing and shoes that are these colors, and it has become very popular with runners everywhere.
Also, runners are going to be able to recognize clothing, suviniors, awards etc. that other runners may have from important races. Some of theses important races would include State meets for high school runners, Nationals for college athletes, and Marathons or Triathalons like Boston or the Iorn Man competition. If you see someone sporting a shirt from one of these events it symbolizes that the person is most likely either a fantastic athlete, or has a good general knowledge of what running is about.

#4 strange habits/ rituals.

Running is a sport that requires dedication in many ways. Because of this, runners have many different habits or rituals that function as symbols of their committment to running. A few of these include: wearing a heart rate monitor, wearing medical masks to run in cold weather, taking ice baths, yelling "track" when you're passing someone, draining lactic acid out of your legs, putting banaids over your pecs, and wearing tights to run in. All of these things are techniques used by runners to help them better function as athletes. To someone who doesn't understand running, these practices may seem odd, but to those who love to run they are symbols of commitment to running.

Myth ID

In the film "Good Will Hunting" the main character, Will Hunting (Matt Damon,) is a janitor at MIT. Dispite this meanial job, he is actually very intelligent. He is introduced to a psychologist, Sean Maguire (Robin Williams,) who tries to help him sort out this gift that he has, and the rest of his life as well. "Good Will Hunting" portrays characteristics of the contemporary media myths "the wisdom of the rustic" and "the possibility of success."

The first myth is characterized by a hero who is usually well educated meeting a rugged, less educated person who teaches them something profound about life. The second myth deals with situations where something good could happen, but the main character has to pick themselves up and make it happen themselves.

"Good Will Hunting" connects wtih the wisdom of the rustic in that the intelligent Will Hunting meets the older and yes, rustic Sean Maguire. Through the relationship Will learns how to deal with the frustrations of life. Sean is always giving him little proverbial bits of knowledge throughout the movie. Many of their talks are focused on relating to others. During one of these Sean tells Will "Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself. "

This movie differs from the characteristics of the wisdom of the rustic in a few ways. First, while the hero, Will, is very intelligent, he hasn't been schooled the way that most people would assume. In many ways he is a rough personality. Also, the "rustic", Sean, is and educated psychologist, and in the myth this person is usually less educated than the hero.

"Good Will Hunting" reflects characteristics of the media myth "the possibility of success," because in the end Will must chose for himself what he will do with his intelligence and how he will live his life. The possibility for him to succeed is his gift of intelligence, but his life circumstances are a challenge that he himself must overcome. The movie differs from the myth, because Will is not completely alone. He does recieve some guidance from Sean, as discussed before, and also from his friends. Ultimately, however, he is the one that must choose his destiny.

What does you myspace profile say about you?

So over the past few days I've become increasingly aware that I can be extreemly judgemental. I judge people, not based on looks, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. I judge people based on their facebook/myspace profiles. I've found that I am under the mislead impression that by looking at one of these sites, I can tell what my friends are thinking and feeling at any given point. Take, for example, the fact that two of my friends recently broke up. How did I find out? Facebook! How did I judge how bad the break up was? Based on how low they now ranked eachother on their myspace "top eight" friends. I also took careful observation of anything that changed in their "about me" sections, layout, pictures, or profile song.

I will admit, sometimes the information that we assume because of what we see on myspace and facebook are true, but as I previously stated the information we "find" can also be misleading. Also, there are dimmensions of people that can not be observed or understood as a result of looking up their myspace profile, and there is a chance of miscommunication because of the indirectness of the source. These forms of communication have been praised as revolutionary for networking, (and I would agree) but if we lose the element of person to person communication with close friends as a result, we will unaviodably make misinformed judgements.

So, I plan to take action. I will no longer allow facebook and myspace to determine my views on what my friends are thinking and feeling. I am going to limmit myself to viewing my facebook and myspace once a day at a maximum, and I am going to make a better effort to call, drop a hand written note to, or get together in person, with my friends in order to talk with them and ask what is going on in their lives. I'll let you know how it goes!

One Trend at a Time: Media influence on my life throughout the years

The first type of media I can remember having a significant impact on my life came in the form of a huge yellow creature that taught me my ABCs from the other side of my television. I have many memories of watching Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and the rest of the Sesame Street gang as a little girl. I can remember staring wide eyed at the tv each afternoon listening to the overgrown puppet like characters sing songs about friendship, baths, and the color wheel. My favorite tv characters were not only a part of my life through the 1/2 hour show that was on each afternoon, oh no. Sesame Street permiated other areas of my life as well. For my third birthday my grandparent bought me "Read to me Big Bird" He was as tall as me, and had a tape player in his rear end. We would sit together for hours reading as many books as possible. I'd listen to his nasal, yet friendly and familliar voice and flip the pages when he made the magic "bling" sound. Of course along with my reading pal, I also had cookie monster crackers as treats after lunch (those were oh so tasty,) Bert and Ernie rubber duckies for bath time, and a pink dress with the words "Elmo loves me" on the front. I can't imagine a type of Sesame street parafanalia that I didn't have as a child. I guess you could say I (and perhaps to an extent, my paretns) was obsessed!

Since childhood, the types of media I have been interested in have changed. At age 11 I became obsessed with the Spice Girls, played Mario Brothers for hours on end, and Clarissa from the Nic series "Clarissa explains it all" was my hero. When I was 13 I watched Boy meets world, and imagined having a relationship just like Cory and Tapanga's. I also became a frequen AOL user. AOL was especially helpful in the eighth grade when I dumped my first boyfriend over an instant messager conversation. Now, media infiltrates my life in more ways than ever before. I always have my cell phone with me, check my facebook constantly, and wouldn't survive long bus trips without my mp3 player.

This list is just a short recap on the types of media that have been an influence on me. Although the avenues of media that I was exposed to or interested in changed over time, it has always been a part of my life, something unescapeable, something that I identify myself with. As I have gone through and listed these few types of influences I find myself remembering the different events of my life that happened within the same time frame. It's kind of crazy that media effects my life to the extent that the media I am exposed to, for better or worse, can become a part of who I am.

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