Comparative Analysis Growing up you expect a lot of things. You expect your family to always support you, you expect to have a lot of friends, you expect to get married, you may expect to go to college, or expect a well paying job that you love. These things are not always guaranteed though. The media fills our heads with these high expectations for perfect glamorous lifestyles the will never actually be a reality for most of us. Terrance Hayes’ poem “New York Poem” and George Saunders’ short story “The Simplica-Girl Diaries” are two modern pieces of literature that depict how reality does not always meet our expectations. Both take place from the perspective of being on the outside looking into the glamorous lifestyles they expected to be living. The narrators feel as though the people around them are all the same, boring copy of one other. Who lack individualization and value the most ignorant materialist objects. The authors of both expose the sad truth behind these perfect lifestyles we all strive for. Nothing is all good or all bad; there is a price you pay to have this certain lifestyle. Morals, values, and beliefs you are forced to abandon. You have to decide whether these are things you are willing to give up, like in “Simplica-Girls”, or if that lifestyle is one that you rather admire from the outside, like in “New York Poem”. In today’s society, reality television shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and the Real Housewives expose us to the wealthy and glamorous lifestyles. I don’t know about you but after seeing their lives my new life goal was marrying rich. From the outside this lifestyle appears to be perfect; never having to worry about money, people falling in love with you, getting paid to film your... ... middle of paper ... ...inwashed us into idolizing. Reality TV and the idolization of celebrities have created a culture where glamorous lives are what every person should strive for. The contrasting conclusions to these two pieces juxtapose the two sides of this culture. You can either chose to be apart of the glamour, ignoring the ugly and morally unjust parts, or remain on the outside, where you will still be surrounded it. These two pieces reveal how today we all expect to have these fabulous lives free of financial and relationship problems as well as escape all forms of unhappiness when in reality there is no such lifestyle. These pieces expose how greedy and vain people can be. The result being that in today’s culture you must decided whether this lifestyle is worth giving up certain morals and beliefs to be apart of it, or if it is better to simply admire it from the outside.
In “All the Pretty Horses”, the author tries to elaborate on the human psychological cost of living based upon a persons dreams and romantic ideals. Throughout t...
Do you know the guiltiest pleasure of the American public? Two simple words reveal all—reality TV. This new segment of the TV industry began with pioneering shows like MTV’s The Real World and CBS’s Survivor. Switch on primetime television nowadays, and you will become bombarded by and addicted to numerous shows all based on “real” life. There are the heartwarming tales of childbirth on TLC, melodramas of second-rate celebrities on Celebrity Mole, and a look into a completely dysfunctional family on The Osbornes. Yet, out of all these entertaining reality shows arises the newest low for popular culture, a program based on the idea of a rich man or woman in search of the perfect marriage partner. The Bachelor, and its spin-off The Bachelorette, exemplify capitalist ideology founded on the Marxist base-superstructure model and establish the role of an active American audience.
Every day in our lives, we desire to be perfect to please others. No matter how hard we try, if we do not achieve the concept of being perfect, then we would feel like failures. For example, every year in the Olympics, a new crowned Olympic champion receiving a gold medal persuades young athletes to worry over winning a medal in every competition they compete. If they do not win a medal in a certain competition, then all their hopes are vanished for the next competition. This action shows how if we do not strive to emulate other people’s achievements, then we will not stand out from the rest of our population. In “Suicide Note” composed by Janice Mirikitani, Mirkitani describes the speaker as a college student who kills herself after not receiving a perfect grade point average. When people look at her body lying down on a cover of snow, they perceive that her suicide is due to her inability of becoming perfect. However, on a deeper meaning, the suicide symbolizes her inability of realizing the concepts of family love, hard work, and happiness.
The pressure of trying to look like celebrities can cause someone to do drastic, unnecessary things to themselves just to please the social critics. In the story, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” the main character, Philadelphia Burke, was what society considered ugly. After a failed suicide attempt she becomes a candidate to become a celebrity. Philadelphia wanted to finally be what society thought as perfect. To become a celebrity Philadelphia must go through several modifications and electronic implants. Nobody really want to have these things done to them bu...
A well-known expression is that money can’t buy happiness, yet people fantasize of winning the lottery, living in their dream house, and possessing enough tangible objects to feel satisfied with their lives. Most are under the preconceived notion that the absence of wealth and power translates to hardship and despair. This, however, is not the case, because a self-effacing lifestyle is not an indication of a lower quality of life, and often is better than one of great fortune. People yearn to have the financial independence and capabilities of those in higher ranking positions, and are willing to abandon their morals and own personal well-being if it means being successful. It seems that by reaching a level of wealth in which money is no longer
A.M. Holmes’ critique of the American dream’s malfunction in modern suburbia examines contemporary domestic life through a variety of socially realistic metaphors. No metaphor is a stronger critic of the dark domestic world she presents than the recurring theme of clothing as a mask which her characters use to hide their true identities. The novel focuses on the importance of “socially acceptable” clothing as an expression of each character’s overall desire to reach a state of normalcy, if not perfection. Yet irony arises out the representation of clothing as both filling its customary role as a cover-up, and simultaneously being used as a medium of exposure. This ironical situation of clothing as a literal and abstract costume to hide physical and mental disfigurement reinforces the assertion that the real desires of Homes’ characters are often shielded from themselves and from others, and yet are ultimately revealed through what they wear. The juxtaposition of the clothing motif is that clothing, or the lack thereof, serves as to conceal as well as reveal inner conflicts of sexuality, discontentment, or personal esteem.
Some people are happy with more than others. In Jeannette Walls’ narrative, “The Glass Castle”, she shows the truth behind that statement. Walls invites her audience into her parent’s choice of living and how she’s embarrassed of the way they live. Walls uses her choice of imagery and point of view to develop her theme that materialistic things doesn’t make one happy.
It disclosed people’s despair, fears, cowardice, as well as other negative feelings in front of difficulties and challenges, and exposed their stupidity by illustrating their ugliness and laughter as they watched wrestlers sabotaging one another and good friends turning against each other. Chris Hedges depicted a pseudo-world where people tend to seek comfort from other people’s misfortunes and care about nothing but fame and money. Under the “enormous positivity” created by the spectacle, the reality is actually a dead end. As it is said, “The modern spectacle depicts what society can deliver, but within the depiction what is permitted is rigidly distinguished from what is possible.” In the celebrity culture, fame and money are the images, pursued by the public, forming numerous social networks among people engaged. People will get lost alongside the road, yet he/she may not notice, because as it is said, “the spectacle is both the outcome and the goal of the dominant mode of production.” Images are unlimited goals, coming with countless outcomes. The spectacle keeps developing itself, as more and more people need no realities but more detailed
celebrity may be found in the words of one of America’s Founding Fathers, John Adams, who wrote, ‘‘The rewards . . . in this life are steem and admiration of others—the punishments are neglect and contempt. The desire of the esteem of others is as real a want of nature as hunger—and the neglect and contempt of the world as severe as a pain.” (Price, 463). The author suggests that fame is not at all w...
...’ family is in deep alcoholism, depriving children the benefits of a proper upbringing. The Johnsons are also chaotic and tyrannical. Jimmie and his ilk of brawling youths epitomize the violence that rocked the society. In the middle of this violence is pursuit of vanity. Children are fighting viciously to establish the superior one. Adults are watching on indifferently. Maggie gets into prostitution because of pursuing an elegant life. She lacks appreciation of her beauty and persona. In the end, the question to ponder is whether human beings have the capacity to make personal choices in midst of immense social circumstances. Regrettably, Johnsons share the blame for the kind of person that their children turned out. The society too has remained passive in the midst of great social trepidation. Maggie and Jimmie share the blame for pursuit of vainglorious vanity.
As a society that lives in a culture of abundance and opportunity, we are always sensing that the next big break lies just over the horizon with the next job or notable achievement. David Brooks, editorialist for the New York Times, sees America as a nation obsessed and admiring of the rich and famous. He ingeniously discloses that, “None of us is really poor; we're just pre-rich”.
No matter where a person goes throughout the United States, they will not walk through the streets of New Jersey or New York for long before they hear the latest scandals with Kim Kardashian or Miley Cyrus. If a person walks into any public store they’ll quickly hear discussion of the latest stars on American Idol from passersby. While we scoff at the antics of celebrities, but at the same time we can foster an almost fanatical desire to be as if not more famous then the people everyone talks about. It is rather human to feel envy, jealously, and desire; we all want to be looked favorably upon. We roll our eyes when someone repeatedly states how beautiful or intelligent a celebrity is, yet even a skeptic can’t help but desire the admiration that celebrity received. Why do men work out? Why do women use such extensive amounts of cosmetics? Why are people so determined to be revered? The answer to individual’s thirst for fame can vary but it’s unavoidable to assume that individual wanted to be the center of attention. We want to be admired, favored, and loved as much as the celebrities that we worship. Reality television has shifted to show the “perfect” life of our celebrities and how happy they are compared to the common people. Neoliberals and authoritarian realized how our fanatical love for our celebrities can be used against us as to quote Frank Furedi from his academic journal on the topic of celebrity culture in which he has stated in the abstract in his first page: “Often celebrity provides an alternative source of validation. The tendency to outsource authority to the celebrity represents an attempt to bypass the problem of legitimacy by politicians and other figures.” Through celebrities’ neoliberals and
Around the world, values are expressed differently. Some people think that life is about the little things that make them happy. Others feel the opposite way and that expenses are the way to live. In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, he develops a character, Madame Loisel, who illustrates her different style of assessments. Madame Loisel, a beautiful woman, lives in a wonderful home with all the necessary supplies needed to live. However, she is very unhappy with her life. She feels she deserves a much more expensive and materialistic life than what she has. After pitying herself for not being the richest of her friends, she goes out and borrows a beautiful necklace from an ally. But as she misplaces the closest thing she has to the life she dreams of and not telling her friend about the mishap, she could have set herself aside from ten years of work. Through many literary devices, de Maupassant sends a message to value less substance articles so life can be spent wisely.
There was once a time when there were more simplistic views on life; where truth and justice prevailed above all and the main concerns of society were much more primitive. However, those times have long vanished and have now been strategically replaced by the commodity that celebrity culture fully encompasses. Guy Debord writes in The Society of the Spectacle, that the “spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation amongst people, mediated by images” (Debord, 4). By this, he simply means that the spectacle is constructed by the daily images devised by celebrities, reality television, and pseudo-events. And those images have altered and strongly influenced the way people perceive themselves and others, as well as the social
...e those fantasies in depth and live either the rich or the famous life style with both its positives and negatives, some people might change their minds about being rich or famous or even both. They would rather choose to have a normal lifestyle but be in touch with their loved ones and live a less stressful life where they don’t have to put media and the public’s interest before their own. As discussed previously, there are many differences in the defining a rich person and a famous person. The main difference would be that being rich is having lots of money, and being famous is being well known to the public. Being famous comes with many rewards and minuses which do cause a stressful lifestyle as a result. Being rich also comes with many advantages that makes living life a lot easier and nicer in many ways, but does come with many disadvantages in a lot of cases.