The Hike - My first attempt at a prose poem

            The sky was black with an orange glow in the early morning light when she began her hike.  Full light was not needed as the map of the trail was imprinted in her mind.  The birds flew in switchbacks above the trail whistling with the happy glee that only birds possess.  The weight of her pack weighed heavily on her back as she labored forward.  She was alone with silence.  She was in a crowd.  The hustle and bustle of the trees along the trail, commuters on a busy roadway, screamed at her.  Her cadence drowning out the traffic.  The previous season’s blanket lifted into a rainbow along the streams that ran parallel with the trail.  As she approached the crest of the mountain, the leaky faucet of the stream caught her attention.  Her pack grew heavier with each sorrowful emotional step as she approached the stream.  She removed her pack but the weight remained.  She knelt towards the crystal blue water laced with green moss and speckled stones.  The trail had nurtured her to the top of the mountain.  Her pack, despite its weight, could not hold her from finding her true north.  With the relief of her pack being at her side, she cupped her hands, lowered them into the clear stream, and brought the freshness to her lips.  Sunrise offered renewal and hope.  With blinded eyes and breath of air, she took in the beauty.  When she opened her eyes, the sky was the bluest blue with a hint of cotton speckling the air.  Just inside her pack lied the task of what she came here to do.  She reached in and pulled the carcass of her actions; the burdens of her life, the words and descriptions of the wrongs by her hand that were written ignominiously.  Her personal inventory.  They were ashes in a paper envelope.  Every single one of them.  Like feathers yet like boulders.  Grandiloquence lost.  The commuters quieted.  Returning her focus to the crystal stream, she saw a frog that traversed through the water, leading the ill-fated way downstream.  Leap.  Leap.  Leap.  She opened the casing and let the ashes free.  She watched the wreckage of her past flow through the mountain’s artery out of her heart, and away from her soul.  She wept as magic disappeared her fear and inner strength was realized.  She was safe.  She was strong.  Most importantly, she was free.  The weightless pack returned to her back.  She wiped her face, and she smiled.  The nature trail had nurtured her to this point.  Rising from the faded ashes, the spirit of her path was no longer in the feathers on her back.  The spirit of her path now resides in her heart and, with a beautiful sunrise on the horizon, she was on top of the world. 

Dynamic Sustainability of "General Hospital"

          

        Popular culture is constantly evolving based on the neoliberalism structure of political, socioeconomic, and cultural changes within society.  David Harvey suggests in A Brief History of Neoliberalism that there implies a direct connection between postmodernism and the socioeconomic changes occurring in society on a political and economic level (42).  Within this discourse, it is rare for a popular television program to maintain its cultural staying power beyond a shelf life of a few decades.  This rarity, however, has been realized by the soap opera genre within daytime television.  A prime example of a postmodern text that has shown the sustainability to evolve with the changing times is General Hospital, which debuted in 1963.  Once rated the “greatest soap opera of all time”, General Hospital has sustained itself despite an influx of reality television emerging on the daytime screen (Maria Ciaccia).  As television evolved over the years to more talk or variety shows as well as reality television, many experts predicted the inevitable death of the traditional soap opera.  Much to the surprise of many, the last remaining soap operas, General Hospital included, remain a dominant force in the ever changing socioeconomic dynamics of the culture of television. 

            In the beginning of the genre, capitalist's motives created the idea of selling daytime television with commercial advertisements aimed at women who did not work outside the home.  When soap operas first were broadcast, plots involved lust, romance, unrequited love, desire and jealousy (Ciaccia).  These feminine characteristics, coupled with the fact that women’s societal roles were primarily domestic homemakers or caregivers, a gender specific target audience emerged.  According to Chris Barker, the soap opera is a space in which women’s concerns and points of view are validated and from which women take pleasure” (Cultural Studies 338), which was in direct contrast to rise in postmodern feminism.     

Structured modernism gave way to the fragmented, deconstructed postmodernism in the world of popular culture.  Coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, postmodernism is a philosophical movement which rejects grand narratives or universal explanations in favor of irony.  (Barker 508).  Derrida’s ideology challenged the construction of the Western hegemony world and replaced it with discursive association of culture.  Soap operas became a genre of television programing that fell within the political and ideological interest of the post-modernized public. They are characterized by having open-ended narrative forms, core locations, tension between conventions of realism and melodrama, and pivotal themes of interpersonal relationships (Barker 335-6).  Additionally, the characters in soap operas possess characteristics that viewers can relate.  They are ambiguous and can take a likeable shape then, at the drop of a hat, find themselves remolded in the image of evil; yet they are hopeful reflections of the audience members who view them.  The character’s morals are virtuous and strong at times while weak and feeble in others, and morally questionable at other times.  This contrast of personalities allows the average viewer to either wholeheartedly relate to the characters plight or join them in a life-long, fictional, and sometimes, absurd adventure.

            Character and storyline development is one of the main reasons why General Hospital has been able to maintain the loyal viewers and sustain its’ position as a leader in this genre for over five decades.  General Hospital is set in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York.  In its early stages, a hospital was at the core of the show, and the scandalous activities of the doctors, nurses, and patients were the driving force behind the storylines.  Running out of plot material and being threatened with cancellation by the ABC television network, the producers introduced pivotal characters Luke and Laura in the late 1970’s as the dynamic couple that would forever change the face of soap operas (Ciaccia).  

           Caught in numerous adventures of intrigue and romance, Luke and Laura developed a storyline that lead to their wedding in 1981 while enjoying a fan base of 30 million viewers.  The wedding of Luke and Laura is one of the biggest moments on General Hospital, and in all of soap opera history (Ciacca).  In fact, following their nuptials, the fictional characters made the cover of People and Newsweek magazines, something that up until that time had never been done by any other soap opera actor or fictional character.  Socioeconomic changes within society have changed and the storylines of General Hospital has changed with those variances.  Today, General Hospital’s narratives include social issues such as AIDS, breast cancer, poverty, and single mothers. 

Despite the evolving narratives and character popularity, the changes within the socioeconomic structure of society have had an adverse effect on the genre of soap operas and the dynamics of daytime television altogether.  Long running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live, also airing on ABC, were cancelled after being on the air for 41 years and 45 years, respectively (imdb.com).  Much to the dismay of hardcore soap opera fans, networks changed daytime television programming from soap operas to reality television and variety/talk shows for purely economical and capitalist motives.  According to “The Week:  The Death of Soap Operas”, the profit margin on reality television shows and talk shows are much higher than the traditional scripted programs; and the soap opera genre had outgrown its advertising purpose (1).  The advertising companies who had originally been the driving force behind the creation of daytime television were now switching their efforts to digital and social media rather than television.  Another reason for the change is because of the structure of television and advent of the digital recorder through cable conglomerates and rise in digital media, such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. Stay-at-home parents were now catching up on reruns or recorded shows that were missed in prime time television rather than continuing their involvement with an ongoing melodramatic storyline that exists in soap operas.  The most relevant postmodern, socioeconomic change to daytime television comes with the economic changes in society.  Households are unable to meet the demands of the economy and rise in the higher cost of living, therefore, both parents must seek employment outside of the home.  This dual-income reality plays a significant role on the popularity of daytime programming.  Collectively, all of these factors together very nearly drove the nail in the soap operas coffin, save for the four surviving soap operas. 

   

As it turns out, however, the remaining four daytime soap operas have enjoyed an increased percentage of viewers over the last two years (Teeman 1).  One reason is that soap opera fans have proven to be the most loyal in all of television remaining captivated and involved with the soap operas characters over a span of fifty years.  Another reason, according to Teeman’s article, is lifelong soap fans who fell in love with the genre remain bereft after the cancellation of another soap and have migrated en masse to one of the remaining survivors (3).  General Hospital has brilliantly exported some of the core cast members from the other ABC cancelled shows and have incorporated their old storyline on the cancelled show into an existing relevant one on the remaining soap.  Also contributing to General Hospital’s staying power is the fact that producers and writers “continually focuses on targeting new audiences while remembering their viewers from the past by bringing back “legacy” characters…General Hospital continues to adjust to the times - but never forgets its roots” (Ciaccia).

In the past, soap operas have been seen as the “junk food” of television and the fans have been stereotyped as lazy housewives trying to escape from their problems by living vicariously through their television screen (Susan Alexander 302).  If this were true, which it is not, even the over-the-top antics of reality television and sensationalized talk shows would not be enough to satisfy the distraught soap opera fan.  On the contrary, daytime television fans are culturally advanced while soap operas themselves are a multifaceted source of television programming that gives viewers a path that is accepting to an ever changing socioeconomic structure.  The sustainability of General Hospital exists in the complexities of the characters, while the narratives and plots address issues affecting regular members of society on the most personal levels that are relevant in today’s world.  In a postmodern culture where everything is free from foundation and fragmented, the never ending saga of a soap opera where people have the ability to change while possessing both positive and negative characteristics is a genre of television programming that should be celebrated within popular culture.  

Luke and Laura Wedding Day
November 1981

Works Cited

Anger, Dorothy.  Reviewed by Susan Alexander “Other Worlds: Society Seen through Soap Opera”.  American Sociological Association.  1999: 302-303.  JSTOR.  Web.  18 August 2014. 

 Barker, Chris.  Cultural Studies.4^th edition.  Sage Publications. London. 2012.  Print

Ciaccia, Maria.  “General Hospital: A Rich History Part 1.  The Beginning Through the 1980’s”.  About.com. Web. 18 August 2014.

Harvey, David.  A Brief History of Neoliberalism.  Oxford University Press. New York. 2005. Print. 

 Internet Movie Database. Imdb.com. Web.  18 August 2014. 

Teeman, Tim.  “How the Daytime Soap Came Back From the Dead”.   Thedailybeast.com. 1-18. Web.  13 August 2014.

Staff Writer.  “The Week:  The death of soap operas:  What does it say about television?”.  Theweek.com. 1-4.  Web.  13 August 2014.  

The Comedian's Mask

Robin Williams was a pop icon who was also a comedic genius and the world, myself included, was shocked by the news of his suicide earlier this week.  On the surface, he was a cheerful man with an undeniable gift of making America laugh.  He had impeccable timing and an uncanny ability to deliver the punchline or climax of any humorous joke or story.  A multifaceted actor, Robin Williams could engage the audience in any style or genre of film or television program simply by using his God-given talent.  Alas, his comedic mask could no longer carry the burden of the tragic one. 

I am not versed in Robin Williams’ complete biography; both on a personal or professional level.  I am not a psychiatrist nor do I claim to be an addiction specialist.  I am simply a fan speaking from my heart trying to make sense of his desperate motives.

Perhaps the level of his despair will never be fully realized.  Addiction has a way of masking one’s true emotions.  Whether through the mythical comforts of alcohol, the deceptive power of drugs, or the illusory assumption that sobriety is untroublesome, addiction acts as a veil or another layer of protection from ourselves.  The good news about sobriety is that you get to feel your feelings.  The bad news about sobriety is that you get to feel your feelings. 

When you stop drinking, it feels as if you are naked in a room packed with fully-clothed people with everyone's eyes on you.  The scrutiny is soul-shattering and the magnitude of societal pressure that you feel compares to nothing else.  Not to sound too corny, but this outer body experience is foreign, unfamiliar, and guaranteed to be painful.  I cannot imagine what it would be like for a celebrity who is incessantly in the thrones of public opinion.  In order to maintain sobriety and sanity, you must reinvent yourself, change your inner voice, not to mention your social circle, and constantly look at things in a different way…one day at a time.  

"Why do I stand up here? Anybody? I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way."

~Robin Williams as John Keating in Dead Poet's Society

O Captain, my Captain...you will be missed...

Happy Birthday Andy Warhol

    When I think of popular culture, the first person I think of is Andy Warhol followed by the image of the Cambell's Soup Can made famous by the talented artist.  Today would have been his 86th birthday.
    I am particularly fascinated at the profound meaning behind the Cambell's Soup can; mass production for mass consumption, an assembly-line concept created by Henry Ford.  Was Warhol's iconic painting in support of capitalism or in opposition to it?  I'd like to think the latter.  Regardless, Happy Birthday Mr. Warhol.

   

A Flawed James Bond

The politics of culture is a multifaceted ideal of attitudes, beliefs and consensus of the greater population that contribute to societal roles.  Collectively, public events and private experiences broadly define culture politics as power; both the power to create and name to the power to represent the social world (Chris Barker Cultural Studies 462).  Power within a culture that shows dominance by a particular social group can be defined as hegemony.  Hegemonic societies are not created by a dictatorship, rather they are chosen by the upper echelon of a society that set the cultural practices and politics of that particular society and maintains authority over subordinate groups based on race, religion and gender.  As a result, discursive thought develops that is not within societal norms, causing inequalities and prejudices within the inner workings of society.  Right or wrong, mainstream media play an overly inflated role in disseminating hegemonic ideals to the mass population.  A perfect example of such display is the James Bond series of novels created by author, Ian Fleming and made famous by the movie adaptations of the same name.  The main character is also laced with class and racial prejudices not to mention chauvinistic and sexist attitudes. 

                Set on the backdrop of a conflicted England, the character of James Bond is a top spy agent within a highly secretive agency in Britain.  The Bond series was defined as a literary spy thriller that was originally designed to be read as literature (Tony Bennett and Janet Woolacott “The moments of Bond” 13).  Even the author himself, according to Bennett, believed that the series appealed to the class A reader and the sophistication of the characters and novels would be incomprehensible to members of the  B and C class (13).  Marketing strategies for the novels were “largely restricted to metropolitan literary intellectuals” (Bennett 14), which resulted in moderate success.  In spite of the modest achievement that was enjoyed by Fleming for the novels, the movie adaptations gained a wider audience that transcended across class differences.  According to Bennett, “by comparison with the Bond novels, the Bond films were instantly and have remained quite spectacularly successful in terms of box office receipts, their rate of profitability, and the size and composition of the audience they have reached” (20). 

On paper and in film, James Bond, the character, represents the perfect man.  He is both well-dressed and handsome as well as cultured and educated.  He enjoys the finer things in life and is a member of culture from above that dictate societal norms.  He drives expensive cars, dresses impeccably, consumes sophisticated libations, and enjoys the company of many beautiful, modelesque women.  He is a white dominant Caucasian, successful, inventive, self-sufficient, and an overall mirrored image of the hegemonic leaders of England’s society.  He is not a free spirit or independent thinker.  Yet, his existence most likely contributes to increasing problems and rising decadence throughout the world.  (Jeremy Black “The Politics of James Bond” 2). The idea of living in excess was forming in Britain’s mainstream society resulting in “Swinging England” which had fast become a trendsetter for the world; and Bond was at the center of the self-indulgence and narcissism.

In this narcissistic image, James Bond was created to resist the threat to the Empire, more specifically, the British Empire. Many, if not most, of Bond’s enemies or sinister foes include any race or ethnic group that threatens the security and integrity of Mother England.  Cynthia Baron writes in her essay “Doctor No: Bonding Britishness to racial sovereignty” that “Britishness is defined in terms of an absolute difference between white and non-white” (136) and it is Bond or 007’s mission to recreate the grounds for racial sovereignty through his “license to kill” policies.  

During the 1950’s, Britain relied heavily on the military force of the United States and the “license to kill” reactivates the power of the British Empire (Baron 136).  James Bond’s chauvinistic attitudes towards Mother England are unparalleled to any other form of nationalism displayed in any other movie or television series which represents a bandage at an attempt to heal mistakes made by England’s military.  Either way, Bond’s love of his country signifies and contributes to his success, yet a Bond movie or story would not be complete with a beautiful woman, a Bond Girl.  By nature, Bond Girls are free and independent, beautiful and smart, not to mention sexually tailored to suit Bond’s needs in every way (Baron 24).  Bond girls represent a conquest for Bond; a playful sexual game of domination and submissiveness.  Together, Bond and his girl, possess a strong sense of both masculine and feminine qualities, and they take to defining their gender relations with passion that is driven by sexual tension until the act of sex actually occurs.  Bond is the ultimate womanizer and is representative of the sexual nature of how male dominants see females. 

James Bond is not the perfect man.  He is, in fact, flawed to the extent the societal norms no longer follow him.  The storylines of the movies and books have become fantasy and unrealistic; rather than the model of a leader in a hegemonic society. 

Sources:

Barker, Chris.  Cultural Studies.4^th edition.  Sage Publications. London. 2012.  Print

Baron, Cynthia.  “Doctor No: Bonding Britishness to racial sovereignty”.  pp 135-149

Bennett, Tony and Janet Woollacott.  “The moments of Bond”.  pp 13-33.

Black, Jeremy.  “The Politics of James Bond: from Flemings novels to the Big Screen”.  Westport Prager.  2001.  Web. 3 August 2014.