Earworm

Meghan Trainor made headlines with her earworm hit “All About That Bass.” Many critics praised the song for its message on body positivity, however, a closer look at the lyrics reveals the song is not as positive as the general public has been led to believe. Much like John Fiske’s analysis of a news report, one can use Louis Althusser’s technique to expose the bias of “All About the Bass” and reveal just how the listeners of this song are being hailed. Throughout most of the song, Trainor claims

awareness of youth about highly constructed nature of texts that society engages with on a daily basis. “All About That Bass” has notched more than 120 million views on YouTube, has been perched atop of the billboard charts and is nothing but a true earworm catchy tune that is being played religiously on the radios of millions of people, the youth being the largest sum of them. This parody music video has a very retro feel, but incorporates many modern musical elements to keep it contemporary. This hit

Racism, Ageism and Stereotypes: Continuing Issues Today, if one was asked about racism, ageism or stereotypes,  most likely their reaction would be to think about the news reports and stories appearing daily. The issues themselves, however, are not new as shown in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In the book, the main character Scout retells experiences she had as a child with these same prejudices. Racism, ageism and stereotypes are all significant components in both the novel and

Agriculture helps the United States economy by contributing more than three hundred billion dollars each year. This number is kept stable by having consistent amount of agriculture farmed or raised each year and it is creating a sustainable food supply. Climate change is capable of destroying this stability and contribution from agriculture. Climate change is a serious problem that is currently happening and is destroying the agriculture’s productivity which has an impact on everyone. Climate change

At one time, "Everything (Was) Awesome!!!"  Remember that? The genius 2-minute earworm of a song that The Lonely Island and Tegan & Sara took all the way to the Oscars as an Original Song nominee? The beauty of framing your film around an absurd, empty, but undeniably catchy song is that the movie matched the pace of the song. Hearing it, we laugh, instantly tap our feet, and directors Phil Lord & Christopher Miller established a cadence with which their film could bounce to.  If The LEGO Movie

A further Look at “Too Many Cooks” As of the time I’ve written this, 7,772,335 people have watched Adult Swim’s smash-hit, “Too Many Cooks”. Nearly every news source from CNN to the New Yorker has given their two cents on this bizarre piece of pop culture. What is it about this video that makes it so popular? I will attempt to unravel the complex and confusing story of “too many cooks", and come to a reasonable explanation of its' massive popularity. "Too Many Cooks" became viral for a number

According to the Paul is dead Hoax, Paul McCartney left an argument with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr which then later turned into a wreck after speeding a red light. The theorized crash kills Paul McCartney instantly. According to the hoax McCartney’s death becomes covered in order to keep their music career, and to keep the fans listening. In an interview with the Hollywood Insider, Ringo Starr admits, “We (Starr, Lennon and Harrison) felt guilty about the deception...We wanted

Hello, Darling. The dogs came first, their short muscular bodies scudding along the pavement like torpedoes. Behind them came the Brothers and their men, followed by the girl and the fat woman. Alone, they would be invisible or abused; together, and with the panting dogs as their messengers, they wielded their difference like a weapon. The crowd parted instinctively, creating an ever-widening space for their passage. Jen hung back, keeping close to the buildings. Most of the street people were harmless

Fun, creative, motivational, and humorous, private and homemade videos were where YouTube really shined during the previous decade. Anyone with a computer, camera, and video editing software had an outlet to show their creative works for fun or presentation, with little restriction besides time and data limits, or certain language and content, to keep the creative environment friendly and legal. The addition of advertisement came along with channels becoming more and more popular, acquiring large

The origin of the Hebrew Bible is unknown, but scholars believe the earliest collections of writings- first five books- date back to nearly 3,500 years ago. The Pentateuch consist of these first five books. The Old Testament, which it is also known as, influenced its time period and still continues to do so today. The exile of the Judean people led their scholars to preserve their cultural identity through the Hebrew Bible’s usage of chiasm, repetition, and kinesthetic imagery. Each literary device