Is the Good Doktor In?

Doktor Sleepless is a comic book series that is published by Avatar and written by Warren Ellis, the same man who gave us Transmetropolitian. Set in the fictional city of Heavenside this comic follows the Enigma, Dr. Sleepless and the people who reside in this futuristic society.

It deals with Transhuman themes and technologies and the ideas that the future is quickly degrading and becoming something the people don’t want to deal with and a life they don’t appreciate. Really this world could be in the same universe as Transmetro, and earlier life before the world gets as crazy. There are definite connections, including what seems to be a very basic iteration of the Maker and D.I.Y. Body modifications to keep track of people or even to touch and feel across great distances. Doktor Sleepless, then known as John

Reinhardt deciding that the only way to gain significance in this world it to become an Enigma, the Science Jesus, the mad scientist, Doktor Sleepless. What proceeds is an odd roller coaster of death, insanity, and dismemberment as we are given a view into the life of the Doktor. We our shown the city of heavenside and their subculture of grinders (the body improvement group) that is easily parralelled with the Transmetro Transients and others like them. Along with all this are metallic-Angel like being appearing over the city and causing people to go blind, no one, with the Exception of Sleepless seems to understand what is going on. Throughout the story Doktor Sleepless’ intentions are unclear, is he good or bad, right or wrong, is he a Jesus-like Savior or there to bring destruction. Towards the end of the story, we are given some idea that his intentions are murderous and seem evil, but could there be more to it than meet s the eye?

Overall I did not appreciate this world as much as I did the Transmetropolitian. I felt the plot overall suffered from slow movement and just really odd, unexplained happenings. Doktor Sleepless has an a really odd plot, however it does give a different views into Transhuman ideals. It has things such as algae therapies to get off drugs, ocular implants that are like futuristic Google Glass, Golgi Masks to see the Events throughout heaven side and super weapons that make people see mechanical angel beings that make their eyes bleed. Additionally, the comic revisits the idea we discussed in class about how everything is given coding identities so they can be processed into raw information.

Doktor Sleepless despite my overall problems reading the book, did leave me curious as to how it would end. It puts into light a very interesting, albeit odd world with alien like creatures from different dimensions, future technologies, and a scary look at the future human disposition. It again asks the question, will these future technologies make us less human, how will they change our ideals, and will they truly make our lives better. For that, I do appreciate these books and for that I would recommend trying our Dr. Sleepless and seeing if it interests you.

Step aside, Batman! The Gotham City Police are on duty!

Gotham Central is a comic book series published by DC Comics. Set in Gotham City, the series is written in the form of a police procedural and examines the lives of officers from the Gotham City Police Department. The comic does a great job of illustrating the difficulties of being a police officer in Gotham City. Besides having to deal with tons of maniacal, deranged criminals like Two-Face and Mr. Freeze, Gotham City police officers also have to share their job with the Caped Crusader, Batman. This can create challenges for the police of Gotham City because officers often want to close out cases before Batman becomes involved. However, the rough streets of Gotham City do not leave much room for this indulgence of pride, and Batman is usually ready and willing to provide assistance to the police.

“IT IS FINISHED” -Jesus

 

Soon the curtain will come to a close on our communication class. As I attempt to overcome separation anxiety disorder already setting in with the very thought of no longer  getting to sift through meanings and psychological arguments construed through the subtle context of media, I look back and fondly remember the good, the bad and the ugly that filled my morning every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

First, I want to look forward to the remaining two classes. I personally would love to further discuss video games. I found the propaganda article written by our very own Dr. Delwiche. I find this the newest emergence in media and find the idea very intriguing. I especially am fond of the idea of further looking at how the change in realism in video games themselves and how newer “immersive” gameplay affects the player as a whole. Regardless of the topic we choose to study the next few days, I am sure that it will be interesting to say the least.

Looking back to our old readings, I really would like to say almost any reading dealing with our 

class topic- Transhumanism- was my favorite. I really enjoyed them. The fictional story of  Spider Jerusalem and his reporting of events in a crazy world immersed in the future technologies we discussed throughout class was fun and interesting. I enjoy the future, almost dystopian ideas that the author brings forth. I always love watching Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, but it was even better to rewatch with a mind on the future technologies and a critical eye. Even “Will We have Computer Chips in Our Heads?”  By William Gibson with his ideas about future technologies was very eye opening and interesting. These articles and the very theme of Transhumanism throughout the semester made this class a joy to come into three times a week.

With every good the must of course be a bad; thus is the nature of life. I HATED THE DICK READING. Don’t misunderstand me here- film analysis is extremely interesting and I did take a class in high school about it. But going back through the whole course and referencing “Film, Space, and Image” throughout the semester -when the knowledge I felt was well contained in my head was guiding me- truly frustrated me. With that being said, the knowledge contained in that reading was infinitely useful and if not for my pre-existing knowledge requiring me to reference him, I would have been much happier with the reading as a whole. In summation, I knew the information in my head and then I had to go back and find the exact pages where he said something about shots, angle, etc…

Overall, I feel that this course has brought together many of my separated idea’s and thoughts about subtlety, commercialism, advertisement, television, etc… and brought them together for a great experience that I will be able to take with me in future classes and even into a career someday.

 

Back to the future, I am excited to move forward from this class. I definitely will revisit communications later in my college career. Unfortunately, next semester is filled with Science and Political Science. Much to my chagrin, my schedule is looking far too full to fit in a Comm. Course for fun. I am happy to say my common curriculum courses are complete (say that three times fast) and I can move forward fulfilling my major and requirements for graduate school. With all that off my chest, I hope you have a great summer!

 

I’ll Be Back

Sadly, our semester has come to an end. I really wish it wouldn’t though, because I have really loved this course. I like how we didn’t have to worry about memorizing for tests so we could really focus and absorb the material you gave us during lectures. I also enjoyed applying information from lectures and course readings into our assignments. This class really does encourage critical thinking and the creative application of it, both very useful skills.

A Class That’s “Worth it”

Wow, I can’t believe this semester is drawing to a close – because that means that my freshmen year is drawing to a close. It went flying by which isn’t surprising considering I have never been busier in my life, especially second semester. Though its never fun to stay up late finishing blog posts or any of the various projects we’ve been assigned, this class is definitely a class that is “worth it”. It is easily one of the classes I have actually looked forward to this semester (it’s up there with my photography class). I knew that in this class there would always be interesting discussions and topics to discuss. I have particularly enjoyed the topic of postmodernism that we have been covering recently. I think I would go as far as to say that it’s been my favorite topic followed closely by Freud and psychoanalysis. If we have the chance to, I would really enjoy covering a bit more of postmodernism in the last couple of classes.

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up!

Oh Freud… always so logical.

To get it out of the way, I want to discuss my least favorite reading first. As a neuroscience major, Freud drives me absolutely insane. Reading, “Freud for Beginners,” just reminded me how I can’t stand his methodology, ideas, or sexist overtones. I may just be biased, but I found this piece of writing monotonous, rather dry and annoying. However, I do give the writers and artists credit for keeping my interest by using a comic book style to explain his ideas.

I had always applied Freud’s ideas, mainly psychoanalysis, to the topic of clinical psychology. Our discussion, and this paper, made me realize that Freud’s ideas go way beyond the scope of psychology. For example, during the section of the class on movies and movie trailers, I recognized that Freud’s ideas were present. As shown several times in this paper, Freud would sit in a chair while his patient laid down next to him. In all of the movies and television programs I can think of, therapy is depicted in this manner—even though modern therapy isn’t predominantly set up in this manner.

The Beginning of the End and a Hopeful Future to Learn More

As this year comes to an end, I find myself having mixed feelings. I cannot deny that it will be hard leaving all of the friends that I have made this year, as well as my boyfriend, but I am also overwhelmed with excitement for the upcoming summer.

For our last two class periods, to be quite honest, I cannot think of any one thing specifically that I would like to discuss. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the lectures given so far during our class time, and believe me this is a rare occurrence. I feel like if I came up with a topic I felt worthy for class discussion, I would be holding myself, as well as the rest of the class back. There are so many topics that we have covered in this course that have literally never even crossed my mind, and for once I am glad for the common curriculum requirements that the liberal arts education requires. This course has made me realize how ignorant I have actually been about social media, and I am so glad I have been forced to step out of my comfort zone and explore topics that I was previously so unaware of. The topic I might say intrigued me the most over the course of the semester though would have to be transhumanism. I think it is the thought of the unknown, miraculous future so deeply explored within the topic that makes me eager to learn more and I can not deny I would love to go back to it. I also think you are capable of showing me other topics that grab my interest just as successfully. 

I Followed The Rabbit.

There’s been a lot of crazy stuff in Comm 2302. We’ve analyzed everything from microchips in our brains to retro lingerie advertisements. We’ve seriously harped on phallic symbols to the point where I don’t know what is not a penis anymore (or that could just be my blinding masculinity). As my college career is coming to a close within roughly the next 8 months, I feel like the last 15 years of school have been a farce. I feel like none of my classes have explained the past, present, and impending future as realistically as Comm 2302. Then, ironically, I will be one of the ones responsible for not teaching an accurate world to students, as I seek employment in the public school system. However, by Trinity’s terms, I am not ready for such an honor. I still have another semester of collecting credit hours for classes such as Wood Sculpture and Racquetball II (essential skills, no doubt), before I can earn my degree. Maybe by the time I graduate, I will have a microchip in my head that will make me not care about my 16-year educational song and dance.

To Infinity and Beyond!

I really enjoy our current conversation on the political aspect of 1968 and how media and ideology shaped the time and the people. I find it very interesting to look at this movement in relation to our class. A past topic that really interested me was the hidden messages that can be seen in advertisement and how some people believe that they influence consumers. Probably one of my favorite readings was Ha ha, he said, Ha Ha by Klosterman. It was so enlightening and made me realize how many times a day I laughed for no reason other than to fill awkward silence. I also realized how many times a day other people did this. Every time I watch a T.V. show, like the Big Bang Theory, I will probably remember this article and think, “this show would suck if it didn’t have a laugh track”. After reading this article hearing laugh tracks will never be the same, especially when Klosterman points out that the people who recorded those tracks are probably dead by now.

My least favorite reading was Precession of Simulacrae by Baudrillard. This was my least favorite because it was so difficult to read and understand the article as a whole. While I was able to pick up some of the ideas expressed, like the map analogy and part of the Disneyland discussion, overall it was challenging to put all the ideas together in a cohesive manner. At least for me this was the problem with this article. With that said, I found Baudrillard’s argument about Disneyland fascinating. On some level, I agree “Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation” (Baudrillard 25). This line of argument really made me think of the places in the world, like exotic islands and vacation areas, which we think are “real” but aren’t.

In regard to this course for next semester, I think alien invasion, conspiracy theories, and teenage identity would be interesting themes. I especially like the idea of alien invasion and conspiracy theories because they are topics that people usually do not look at in depth. It would be really interesting to see how these themes would be applied to this class and what readings and projects would accompany such abstract themes. Teenage identity would also be a good topic because it is a class that I feel a lot of students could relate too.

Britney’s facial expression easily expresses my thoughts on being a junior and the courses I will taking next semester.

Comm 2302 really taught me to think critically about media I see and now I will probably never look at a comic book, T.V. show, or movie again. Not that I am complaining. As for me I will be taking 17 hours next semester. Wooo! Just kidding I am not that excited. I am taking two upper division psychology courses, an art course, an art history course, and will be do research in a psychology lab roughly 6 hours a week. It’s scary to think I will be a junior but here I come Fall 2013!

It’s been fun, and it’s been real, but it hasn’t been real fun

Just kidding, it has been real fun. And real educational. This semester I learned a lot of interpreting media (what?) and really enjoyed myself as well. I liked the discussions about advertising and the hidden meanings and persuasion methods in the ad business (I also liked that these discussions made me feel like the hours I’ve spent watching Mad Men were not such a waste).