Luxuries or Laziness?

So, recently, I've had a couple discussions with my roommate about the whole 'netflix and chill' society we, as young people, have become enthralled with. It has spurred countless memes, like the ones below, and some that I didn't really think were appropriate for a school audience....

The so called 'hook-up culture' that we have now found ourselves in is disgusting and will no doubt end with a higher divorce rate in the years to come as no one understands the idea of commitment anymore. But I digress. I love netflix, truly I do. I just binge watched the whole first season of How to Get Away With Murder and it was fantastic(if you haven't watched it I would HIGHLY recommend).

However, this newfound ability to access different shows and movies at the touch of a button is worrisome. I will admit that I have spent more than one day shut up in my dark room watching endless netflix shows and neglecting the beauty outside. I have blown off friends and I have spent hours in my bed, not taking my pajamas off all day long, and I know I'm not the only one who's done this. We've become accustomed to immediate satisfaction. The idea that we'd ever have to wait for anything is becoming a thing of the past. Yes, this is a luxury we didn't have 5 years ago, but we've become entitled and lazy as a result.

And to top it all off, has anyone else seen those weird hover board/ segway things around campus?? Are we too lazy to walk now? We have to glide? Where does it end? I really can't see the practical use of these things and it's just another symptom of our laziness as a result of technological advancements.

I know technology is a gift and a Godsend and it has helped humanity in countless ways, and of that I am proud. But if we don't get our act together, we're going to end up like the humans in Wall-E who are too fat to walk and hover around eating and tanning on the fake beach in their space ship because Earth no longer has the capacity to facilitate life after we treated it like a garbage dump....

So, I'm assuming nearly everyone has seen Aladdin, right? The Disney movie about the poor guy who finds a magic lamp with a genie inside? Well, if you're anything like me, this movie rocked your 6 year old world. The movie was released 23 years ago to stellar reviews and an Oscar, but just recently, footage was released of Robin Williams recording the voice of the Genie to promote the re-release of the film.

This is big news, not just for helpless Disney classic fanatics like myself, but for a ton of fans of Williams who passed just last year. For many, his character of the Genie held a significant place in their childhood. Co-writer of Aladdin says "We wrote the part with Robin in mind, but we didn't know if he would do it. Fortunately for us, he did, [but]we were totally walking down the plank. If he said no, we were in big trouble because the whole concept was built around Robin." 

The coolest thing, I think is the fact that we can watch this character come to life through the new footage. We see sketches that will eventually become characters which will eventually become a movie. I've always been impressed by the hand-drawn classic Disney films and being an insider to the process is remarkable. Through the video of Williams recording, we are watching something magical(forgive the pun) take place. We can watch a beloved character and beloved actor come to life when that is sadly no longer a possibility for either of them. Watch the video below!

 

Youtube Celebrity: A Cinderella Story

Jenna Mourey, better known as Jenna Marbles, is what is known as a Youtube celebrity. I know that quite a few people touched on this last week in their blogs, but I wanted to talk about it as well, seeing as I, too, am a devoted fan of her videos. We all know her as a funny, somewhat crude young woman but those of us who have watched her videos for years have watched this woman grow up. We've seen her go through heartbreak, loss, happiness, sadness, and everything in between, including quite a few different hair colors....

She now has over 15 million subscribers and is the 7th most subscribed user on Youtube and the highest subscribed to female. But where did this all begin? Jenna posted her first video 5 years ago. At that time, her videos were not like the more recent ones, but instead this first one was of her dog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ieL3Cr06E

Over the years, her videos have gotten funnier and more relevant to her audience, but why has she even gained an audience in the first place? I believe this is because she is extremely open and blatant about her feelings towards any given thing and she conveys her feelings in a comical way. We can all relate to things that she says and does and we like to know we aren't alone in doing weird stuff while we shower:

Another thing that we find so compelling as viewers is more personal issues. We've watched her in two relationships during her time as a Youtube celebrity, the first one with her ex-boyfriend Max

and the second with her now-boyfriend Julien.

She commented vaguely on her and Max's split in one of her videos, but the fact that we as viewers had to watch someone we felt a genuine connection with hurt in this way made her all the more compelling. We rooted for her to find someone better and she finally did. Not all Youtube celebrities are publicly dating, but the fact that Jenna was willing to share something so personal helped her viewers connect with her. We see that she is a person just like us. I think that this is what helps Youtube celebrities excel. They are just normal people dealing with normal things that are thrust into this world of adoring fans. I may never understand how people like Jenna come to be so popular, but I sure am glad she did.

Insta-beauty

Recently, I've been pondering the ridiculous beauty standards to which people, particularly women, are subjected and expected to conform to. After finding out recently that more than one of my friends has struggled with an eating disorder, I wanted to find out why. Why did they want to lose weight? Who were they emulating? In July, Kylie Jenner celebrated having 30 million Instagram followers and her sister Kendall currently has 29.6 million and has broken the record for most Instagram likes on the picture below.

These numbers increase every day. But why? Why do we follow these people who are famous simply for existing? The answer lies in the fact that their social media fame makes them desirable. We associate this desire for attention with beauty and therefore, idealize the traits of these Instagram stars. Those of us who go on Instagram frequently see Kylie Jenner's pictures on the popular page almost daily. We are so often exposed to what society's expectation of beauty has become that we begin to believe that if we want to be deemed attractive, we too need to lose weight and do our makeup a certain way. 86% of female college students surveyed on a college campus reported the onset of an eating disorder by age 20. With the prevalence of unhealthy women on TV, in movies, and on social media, it is no wonder why. Recently, an Instagrammer came into the news spotlight in the New York Post. Loni Jane, a 25-year old woman, eats only fruit and vegetables and documents her "health journey" on her Instagram account. She promotes this lifestyle and shows her weight loss in her posts. While this may be technically healthy, I have serious doubts, not to mention her blatant dismissal of people who eat meat or anything that isn't a fruit or vegetable. It's possible that she is leading her followers down a dangerous path that may end in an eating disorder. Regardless, the exposure to skewed beauty expectations on the Instagram platform is staggering. Our widespread use of this technology is detrimental to young girls everywhere who think they need to look a certain way so they'll get more likes on their photos. This trend is becoming a big issue in middle and high school and I now know more girls with eating disorders than I ever thought possible. Something needs to change in the Instagram world and it needs to change soon.

Sources:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/kylie-jenner-celebrates-30million-instagram-6133977

http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2015/06/27/kendall-jenner-breaks-instagram-record-kimye/

http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/

http://nypost.com/2013/11/12/eating-10-bananas-a-day-saved-my-life/