Popularity

                                           Popularity

Popularity can mean many different things to different people. Some people think of movie stars and celebrities, professional athletes and rock stars, and politicians and entrepreneurs. The definition is clearly pretty subjective. In a high school, where all of these are absent, the definition of popular is no clearer. It is not even clear whether everyone thinks being “popular” is a good thing.

To some, being popular is synonymous with being “well known”, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. A lot of people are known around campus for not-so-good reasons. Some people who are known around campus for one reason or another will act boastfully, thinking that this notoriety is a sign that they are well-liked, but this isn’t always the case. Often times this sort of behavior can cause negative feelings and even resentment towards these people.

One component of popularity has become social media. In the days of MySpace, having the most friends was a sign of popularity. As Facebook, Twitter and Instagram become more prevalent, piling up the “likes” and “retweets” are indicators of someone’s popularity. The more people “like” a post or picture, the higher the person’s social standing. People will plan out their posts, often saying “Oh, I’m putting this on Instagram!” or another site when something interesting happens. All this is in the hopes of getting a large amount of likes.

While kids our age value social media and it can influence and reflect someone’s popularity, it is not the only thing that matters. In fact, people don’t just magically wind up with hundreds of friends and/or followers. They have to meet these people first. Being popular on social media is at least partially related to being considered popular at school, because without followers and friends there is no one to like or comment on a post. That being said, it is not completely clear what makes a person “popular” in general, or what sort of people are considered to be “popular”. Athletes are the classic example of high school popularity; “jocks” are thought of as cool and popular. But, contrary to what movies would have us believe, there are other ways to be popular besides being the starting quarterback. While talented athletes are often well known, so are others who represent the school well in other ways. An example of widespread popularity that completely defies the stereotypes is the fame of Garrett Reineke. A recently graduated senior, Garrett was in numerous drama productions, often in the leading role, and was universally admired and celebrated by his classmates.

Popularity doesn’t depend upon any one factor, and it can’t be judged in any one way. Furthermore, it is not clear exactly what is meant by “popularity”. To some it means one thing, and to others it means something completely different. Some think of being “Facebook famous”, and others associate popularity with being the captain of a successful sports team, but there are examples of people whose fame defies expectation. At the end of the day, popularity is very subjective, and what really matters is that people are genuine and themselves. Being genuine is more important than being popular; if everyone at West Hills was concerned with trying to be “popular” it would be a very boring and very fake place.

Catalog

Coraline review

      Coraline, directed by Henry Selick, created a 100 minute stop motion movie where a young girl is introduced to a parallel universe

One of many Coraline models and
what is inside of them to make
the figures bendable

      Coraline, voiced by Dakota Fanning, is a girl who just moved into a new (but old) house. She feels neglected by her parents, voiced by Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman, who are always too busy with their job. Since her parents are too busy to keep her entertained, Coralines dad tells her to go around the house and count all the windows and doors. As told, she goes around the house counting. When she finished she noticed of what it looked liked to be a door. Coraline calls her mom and asks for the key to open it. She finds that behind the door there are bricks blocking the way.

      One night Coraline is woken up by mice running around her room. She follows them and led her to the room with the mysterious blocked door, but this time… it was open. The mice make their way through the door so Coraline follows. On the other end it was only her house, nothing different… so it seemed. She smells something really good coming from the kitchen. She finds her mom cooking. When she turns around Coraline is shocked because she notices this isn’t her mother. This “other mother” as she calls her self, has buttons for eyes.

      In this parallel universe Coraline gets anything and everything she could ever ask for, but when it comes down to it, be careful what you wish for. The more Coraline hangs around the “other” world, the more her other parents want her to stay with them. Coraline doesn’t want to and would rather stay with her parents who don’t pay attention to her, so she plays a game with her other mother and if Coraline wins, she gets to be free from this strange world, but if she loses, her other mother gets to sew buttons in her eyes and she stays there.

      I personally think this movie was very well put together and has a great story behind it. The one thing I see wrong with this film is it’s not quite appropriate for kids. For example, sewing buttons into a child’s eyes? And a few other details throughout the movie. If you have watched the film, what do you think?

Glee Season 4 Premier Recap

The new and improved poster for the
new season of Glee

      The new season of Glee opened with an eye-catching scene. Lea Michele, better known as "Rachel" the star of the show, has left the Glee Club and moved out of Ohio to New York to further her career in acting. Kate Hudson, one of many new cast members, plays Cassie, a sassy dance teacher who makes an unforgettable first impression on Rachel by making rude, but funny jokes. New viewers will notice the humor right away and be left with a positive impression and feeling about the show. The storyline was interesting, and it kept the viewer intrigued.

      Since Rachel moved to New York the Glee Club that is back at William McKinley High School, is trying to find the "new" Rachel. Another new cast member, Alex Newell, who plays Wade, is a new member of the Glee Club and hopes to be the new star, but so do the other members of the club. They solve this problem by having a "sing off" and Kevin McHale, who plays Artie, judges who should be the "new" Rachel and chooses Blane, played by Darren Criss. Glee has become smaller so they hold auditions to enlarge the club. Marley, who is played by Melissa Benoist, wants to join the glee club but doesn't think she has what it takes. She introduces herself to Glee and they come off very snotty to her. After she introduces herself, Marley sits at the table next to them and overhears them make fun of the lunch lady and make jokes about her weight. In the next scene we see Marley walk into the school kitchen, sit down, and start talking to the lunch lady that the Glee Club was making fun of; turns out the lunch lady that they were making fun of was Marley's mom. The next day Glee has the auditions, and after multiple horrible performances Glee was losing hope until Marley came on stage and sang. They were blown away and knew she was the one. Now that Marley was a part of the Glee Club she sat with them at lunch the next day. Glee starts making fun of the lunch lady again and Marley took a stand for her mom and got up and left the table saying, "I thought you guys were different".





      Kurt, who is played by Chris Colfer, has graduated, but still sticks around high school and everyone around him thinks he should move on and move to New York, because that is a dream of his. In the last scene Rachel, who is Kurt’s best friend, calls him upset saying how she thinks she has made a huge mistake and Kurt tells her it’s not a mistake and she isn’t alone. While Kurt says this, Rachel turns around and sees Kurt just across the way.

 



      The episode was full of all the aspects that make a good show. It had romance, drama, and humor all together in one episode. The episode opened the new season on a positive note and viewers will probably be coming back for more next week. There were two small issues that might lower the impression of viewers. The mature language and high school setting make this show a little too “grown-up” for young children to watch. Families might not want their small children exposed to these messages. Another thing that was clear during the episode was the fact that all of the songs were lip synched by the actors. Since the show is centered on the singing, it’s a problem if there is lip synching. Glee is already a TV equivalent of High School Musical, so this lip synching gives a feeling of fakeness and makes the viewer wonder if the actors are really that talented. All in all the show was enjoyable and easy to watch for anyone over the age of thirteen who could get past the lip synching. Without a doubt, plenty of viewers will be tuning in this Thursday.

First post

This is my blog for Writing for the World.