Omar’s
presentation was great, and it opened my eyes to how comedy was a form of
cultural resistance – before he recounted his story about Timothy McVeigh, I did
not realize that comedians had the same thought process. Not only do they need
to be politically and culturally aware, but they must also be able to quickly
think on their feet in a witty way. Once Omar brought up his story about how he
found common ground with his other peer comedians, I realized that most, if not
all, use comedy as a way to survive and cope with current standards.
In John
Fiske’s “Shopping for Pleasure,” he describes how the mall is a place for women
to resist against their expected roles in society. I understand his viewpoint,
but I also believe that malls do not provide the full escape that women need
since they are still buying things from the system and continuing the
capitalistic trend as they feel the need to buy more products. In addition,
malls perpetrate current trends and make women feel inferior if they are not updated
with the current fad, so I believe that malls are double-edged swords that harm
women more than they benefit them. Even if women can perform little acts of
resistance, those small acts still play into the larger system and are not the
same as other acts of resistance discussed in class (e.g. cooking extra food in
a restaurant near closing time).
In
John Jordan’s “Art of Necessity,” he discusses a protest group named Reclaim
the Streets. He also talks about how art is used as a weapon for the DIY
protests movement, which is interesting because it reminded me of Omar’s
presentation. I thought of Omar because comedy is a form of art as well, which
is created by the speaker based off of his/her humor. In this sense, comedy can
be seen as a form of the DIY protest movement too.
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