Group Presentation Reflection

Today my group, team Gryffindor, did our presentation on Phenomenology, Reader-Response Theory, and Psychoanalysis.  I was fourth on the line up with my presentation on Heidegger.  By the time I was up, our group had hit the 40 minute mark, so I did feel a bit of a time crunch.  We were supposed to go last week, but we ended up moving it over to today.

I felt that the group leader was hands down Stephan Harder.  He was leading the e-mail train for our group and was the one to actually piece together all of our slides.  I did stay in contact with him via e-mail for the past few weeks while developing my part of the project.

I am lacking in the cool-slide department, mainly because it took me a while to figure out how to change the background of the slides.  I wanted to keep my slides somewhat simplistic for the cheap seats in the back.  I personally get frustrated when I don’t have my glasses and can’t read all of a slide.

I wanted my portion to be more of a conversation rather than a lecture.  I am somewhat naturally and perhaps undeservingly confident, and so nerves were not an issue.  As a side note, I was joking about having a song about Heidegger that is accompanied by a ukulele. And I was also joking about having an arm fetish.

 Arms can be very attractive though.  I think that by leaving some of my content and understanding of the text out of my slides and relying on the actual conversation, it invited more participation into my section of the presentation.  From the e-mail train, I found that there would already be a few forced interactive activities within the presentation, so I felt that that would work out well for our presentation.

I think that I had a confident commanding presence in our presentation, and I’d like to think that my cheering and attitude added to the group dynamic.  Go team Phenomenology!

Word Count: 336

Analysis Four- Marxist Theory

Communism theoretically would be a decent idea.  There would be a classless society and we would all work along side each other and we would all get along and we, as a people, would be like the mechanical people in “It’s a Small World” and we would sing and dance and rejoice diversity.  However, that is not realistic.  As much as hippies will say that we are all one people and we should treat each other well and be equals, that is not what man truly wants.  Communism does not work because of the innate drive.  Humans are passionate and have drive. It is one of the attributes that defines humanity.  Within communism, there are only worker bees and queen bees.  If this sense of hierarchy sounds familiar, you probably attended high school in America.

In Mean Girls Regina George (Rachel McAdams) is the queen bee. She rules with an iron fist and keeps the worker bees in her place. Naturally, she rules alone but allows herself an elite inner circle of advisors, inclusive of Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried) and eventually Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan).

  While in the movie, Cady relates high school in middle America to living in Africa and seeing wild animals, it could also parallel communism.  Throughout several talking heads in the movie, you see the worker bees slaving over their queen bee.  Regina is praised, respected, and is both loved and hated.  She is above all else, feared as well.  As a ruler, this is necessary for a clear and concise rule.  Regina manages to master communism with herself as the unquestioned leader.  However, as history shows us, there is typically a rebel alliance that overthrows the communist leader.

 This alliance lies in Janis Ian (Lizzie Caplan), the “too gay to function” Damien (Daniel Franzese) and Cady.  Cady manages to abolish the communist hierarchy within the high school and instate a sense of democracy.  It didn’t hurt that Regina was hit by a bus and lost her spring fling queen to Cady, but she still lost power.

What really triggers the Marxist aspects in Mean Girls is the consumerism aspect.  The worker bees buy into what the plastics (the cool girls) buy and they become consumers to keep up.  In communism, the media and the government and natural sense of keeping up feeds consumerism.  Both the plastics and the government gives the worker bees the sense that they need things to keep up and be socially acceptable and a functioning part of their machine.  To make yourself normalized, you have to buy things. Within communism, it may be buying the acme products just to be the same, within high school its cargo pants and flip flops (“I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip flops, so I bought army pants and flip flops” -Mean Girls).

Things for Regina and communism in general appear to be doing well for a while, but it just doesn’t stick.  The idea of the single ruler and the whole lower class worker bees will inevitably collapse because there’s always a group that fights them.  Inevitably, there will be a fight and the communist party will crumble.

Word Count: 584



Works Cited
Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.
Mean Girls. Dir. Mark Waters. By Tina Fey. Perf. Lindsay Lohan. Paramount, 2004. Film.
Varma, Sujit R. "Mean Girls (2004) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/>.

Week Ten- Marxist Theory

More and more Marx! Marx established that there is a need for the poor, a need for the working class.  That says to the working man, you are needed. You are valuable. However, the value isn’t that high. You are a commodity. You are a number. You are a mouth that the government needs to feed to keep things chugging along at an acceptable pace.

Marx believes in the hierarchy.  Hierarchy tends to be necessary in society.  There needs to be a leader (if I learned anything from Lord of the Flies…) for there to be progress.  People need a place in life. If you go to any coffee shop, college campus, church, or really anywhere with people, you will find lost souls.  People who need direction. People who want to belong, have a place, and make a contribution.  I feel safe making this generality because the few people who say they don’t want to belong, have a place or make a contribution would probably not leave their house and therefore not be in any place with people, therefore excluding them from the sample group of souls.  Marxism would not only provide you with a place and an opportunity to contribute, but would enforce it upon you.

I think that the problem in Marxism lies in that it is enforced, and there is little opportunity to move up in the hierarchy.  Once you are a worker bee, you cannot be a queen bee. This isn’t Mean Girls, you can’t move up in the world.  This is Gossip Girl. The elite stay elite, and the lower class takes the subway over from Brooklyn.  There is little crossover, there is rarely change.  This will naturally create hostility and barriers, which is why Marxism tends to fail.  The trick is to trick the worker bees into being happy and having no hopes of moving forward. Sadly, there are driven people who feel the need (for speed?) to succeed (oh.).  They will view their missed opportunities as a loss and will inevitably revolt.  Oh, and many Marxists have been crazy and/or evil. 

Word Count: 348

Week Nine- Marxist Theory

Karl Marx’s communist ideology centers around labor and labor value.  The idea that capitalism is bad and that “religion is the opiate of the masses.”  Paying the workings the bare minimum, just enough to keep them going and keep them producing the same amount of labor and still have enough energy to go out and buy back their goods at a profitable mark up.  People would be seemingly equal laborers and would be peaceful parts of a larger machine.  In theory it is a seemingly air idea.  Before you jump down my throat, I said in theory (that’s what this class is all about, right?).  However, history shows us that it does not always work out so well.  You know why? Greed.  People see the rich staying rich and no progression for themselves.  The rich see more and more opportunity for surplus and success and push further and further.  It falls apart and egos get involved and it just all goes straight to hell.  

This brings the word ‘communist’ such ugly  meaning.  Certainly the ‘red scare’ that became essentially a witch hunt brought a lot of heavy weight to the word.  To my knowledge, bigoted former SNL primetime player Victoria Jackson wore a shirt that said ‘communist’ on a recent interview following her homophobic rant on a man-on-man kiss on the cheese-fest program Glee. 

 She is out of her wrinkly, deteriorating mind and proudly rocked the frock.  Rapper Lil Wayne appeared in a music video also donning a shirt that read ‘communist’ (I sincerely hope it was not out of Jackson’s closet).  

Communist is essentially what you make it.  Whether it be parody, serious, or completely taken in a terrible horrifying direction (looking at you, Stalin and Jackson).  

Word Count: 288

Analysis Three- Psychoanalysis

The concept of psychoanalysis is one that seems most applicable and accessible to many people.  The Freudian ideas and concepts are immensely well known and are popularized as a basic fundamental concept for psychology students.  One major aspect of the Freudian ideas is that a child sexually desires a mate that reminds them of the opposite sex parent, i.e. a son will desire a woman who is similar to his mother and a daughter will desire a man reminiscent of her father.  This is essentially based on the story of Oedipus Rex.
The question is, however, how applicable is this? While it is understandable for children to naturally look up to their parents and find them admirable, do those traits always cross over into their dating life? Hollywood likes to rake in in the idea, cashing in on cheesy movies like Sweet Home Alabama and Leap Year where women end up with more modest men who remind them of their roots and/or culture rather than their rich, pretentious fiancé.  This is typically done for the cute factor, to make the characters more appealing and to push the cheesy idea that money cannot buy love and that love knows no economic stature.
However, there are never sequels to these movies. These movies never show these women moving out of their penthouse and shoving their Dolce & Gabbana jeans alongside their husband’s Wal-Mart flannel in their shared closet. They certainly do not show the male equivalent of  a man choosing a homely woman who packs sack lunches over a sexy sultry young woman with single beauty marks and double jointed hips.  So here the Oedipal complex is shown, but only in females.  And naturally, this is just the archetypes that are shown in movies, but still.  It is what is being pumped into our society and what is being implemented.  Of course Freud is relevant, and has even leaked into our stories now, but it is a theory not a rule.

Word Count: 329




Works Cited
Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.

Week Eight- Phenomenology and Reader-Response Theory

Heidegger’s essay on language repeats a few essential things: Language is language, and language speaks.  However, what is that supposed to mean? Heidegger notes that “speech enables man to be the living being he is as a man”.  To speak, essentially, is to be defined as a man.  Speech is the mark of a man, a mark of humanity.  Language is an identifier of humanity.  Language is what defines a man and what separates man from animals.
Heidegger also discusses what speech is.  He notes that speaking is expression as well as an activity of man.  It is overall a human expression, and a human expression is a presentation and representation of the real and the unreal.  Speech is a reaction, an expression, and the life experience.
Heidegger essentially links speech to humanity, but that somewhat begs the question of communication.  He heavily weighs the importance of language, implying that language is something that is ever-occurring and is a force we cannot stop.  It’s a train that’s out of control.  It’s the bus in ‘Speed’ and Keanu Reeves is nowhere to be found. I think you get the point now.
I do however feel that not all works of speech or language are as significant as Heidegger implies. Yes, there is weight in language. Eloquence is what separates man from the animals and words may change lives. However, not all words are important and not all words are as crucial as Heidegger implies. I believe that Kanye West's twitter account best sums up my point.

Word Count: 255

Week Seven- Psychoanalysis

Freud’s ideas of fetishism is that a fetish makes up for the woman’s lack of a penis.  The essential idea is that if a woman has a penis, she cannot castrate him.  Therefore, the fetish is typically rooted in castration anxiety.  A woman without a penis is a treat to the man and is something to be feared.  It is also noted that the woman’s body is not what is appealing or stimulating to the man, it is her penis, it is the fetish quality.
What I am curious about is that the man may look at only the fetish and almost be blind to the rest of the woman.  Does fetish cancel out everything else? Is it that powerful that nothing else can matter except for a shoe or the perfect foot or getting spanked by someone donning a leather get up?
I assume that in this context it refers to true all-consuming fetishism.  Fetishism to the point of addiction.  Fetishism that cannot be contained, or rather, handled in everyday life.  I think that there is a difference between being kinky and being a fetishist.  Freud’s idea of fetish is for the true fetish, but does not necessarily apply to being kinky.  Being kinky would be closer to being more sexually experimental (in my opinion).

In the above clip, Rhianna (a pop star famous for getting beat by her pop star boyfriend) proclaims her love for fetish, specifically s&m.  In this specific example, I feel that she has some lingering trauma from the incident with her boyfriend and decided to take it out on her young, impressionable fans.  She depicts herself engaging in some known fetish sexual acts, possibly as a sad attempt at remaining both relevant, sexualized, and horribly auto-tuned.

However, by clicking through here you will find an MTV documentary on two young people living with fetishism.  The dominatrix is looking for love and a career in the big city, and the foot fetishist found love on myspace. However, the importance of the documentary lies in how the fetish consumes them.  At one point the dominatrix says that she “never thought it would get this big”.  I’m sure Freud would make a bad joke at that.

Word Count:  369


Works Cited
Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.
S&M. Perf. Rhianna. YouTube, 31 Jan. 2010. Web. 9 Mar. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc>.
"True Life: I Have A Fetish." True Life. MTV. New York, New York, 3 Jan. 2010.