I want to start by saying that I thought that was the best video thus far. The video was consistent with calls to action of many of the previous videos, but it was more directed at American culture by implying that MTV, South Park, the hippi movement were some of the causes of the deterioration of the term "whatever".It makes me think that the subliminal message of all the assignments to date is that American media and entertainment has created a very narcissistic, material, and indifferent attitude about individual self identity. As an American, I can relate to the many references throughout this video.
If I am walking to class alongside an imaginary young girl talking on the phone I usually can't bear to listen. The words she uses most are like and whatever. The conversation is about herself. She probably doesn't even know who she is talking to. It 's as if she believes that the dumber she gets, the cooler it will make her. That's the sad part. The scary part is that there are actually people who think that is cool. According to Mr. Wesch, whom I agree with, this concept of coolness started a long time ago and is now becoming so intolerable that people are beginning to unite against it.
Growing up things did not seem this bad. The definition of whatever, as described in the video, was originated when I was growing up. Relatively new, it was a funny thing to say. At least it was then. Now it has become so overused that it is no longer funny. It is actually very scary the insecurities and self-awareness that are now attached to the term.
It is my duty as a future teacher to penetrate the groups and masses of people who think that it is alright to be dumb, indifferent, narcissistic, and insecure. Just like the people on youtube making calls for action, we need more heroes who will open arms in an effort to help others develop a moral ethical core. The moral of the video is that youtube and other innovations of new media literature might be necessary to penetrate these groups.
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Isn't it sad how true that is? I mean, I remember there was a time that a word was not a word unless it had a meaning. However, these days, words like "ain't," "whatever," "truedat," "whatdup," and "like, ya know" rampage the American language freely leaving no one safe. What's worse, is that as time progresses, it doesn't seem as though the language is going to get any better.
ReplyDeleteAnd one last question before I leave, what in the world does "whatchamacallit" mean or derive itself from? Like, who came up with such a word and why?