Modern Popular Culture

Public exposure of peoples personal life has been haunting famous people for many years, but lately normal, everyday people are getting the chance to expose their personal lives to the public and become "pseudo-celebrities". They all do this willingly, but do they truly know and understand what they are getting into? These people are readily exposed to gross humiliation for the amusement of the public on many reality television shows. Even though reality television is popular and gets a substantial amount of viewers it is a major factor in the degradation of the popular enjoyment. So while viewers are getting enjoyment from another's humility, realize that this has been done in the past in a more primitive way. Public executions were also once done for the majority of the public. Are we really being any different than the way we used to behave? While reality television is not actually executing a person, we are still getting enjoyment from peoples downfalls.

People

In a world of about 6.7 billion different people there are so many different views on so many different topics. All of earths 6.7 billion individuals has their own point to throw in. This is what makes the world go round. On a socialogical standpoint, the more different points you have considered as your view was formed the better your view will be. Reality television is many times viewed in a negative aspect, however when considering this aspect it is truly positive. Much of the reason that America is such a great country is that we are a "melting pot" of different cultures and ethnicities. Yes, this causes much conflict, but in the end it is a positive thing. American's are exposed to so many different types of people, and this helps us become more open to accepting differences and understanding and considering our own values, morals, and beliefs. In a big way, reality television only helps provide us with more views to consider. Reality television viewers are able to evaluate how people behave and speak in certain situations in the comfort of our own homes.

The Sims

"The Sims" is a popular computer video game that is basically just a basic life simulator. You create a person, or Sim, build him/her a house, and live life as them. Many people create themselves and have their Sims live out life in a way that they wish they could live actual life. In my experience of playing this game, I have extremely enjoyed building a house for my Sim, but actually living out their life was not my favorite part. Either way, however, when I did play this game I would get lost in it and end up spending hours and hours playing it. In a way this video game is very similar to reality television. It is a way to view life through a monitor. In "The Sims" it is highly interactive, and in reality television, the viewer just observes, but either way you are experiencing a simulation of real life, and people love it. For many, the Sim, or the character in the television show are living a lifestyle that they would like to experience, and it is very entertaining. Both of these concepts of entertainment have also been invented during the same time period. The psychological concept of both forms is the same and the majority of fans enjoy both "The Sims" and reality television.

Physical Activity

Modern day USA has so many problems at this time that many other issues forget to be addressed. Lately the focus has been on the economy, health care, H1N1, and the two wars. The problem that hasn't been truly addressed in a while has been obesity, even though it really has a huge impact on preventative health care with which we spent billions of dollars on each year and a huge percentage of money toward health care goes towards. And, it goes towards something that can be prevented, hence the name preventative health care. As an exercise physiology major and outdoor recreation and education major I have many strong feelings on this subject matter and would like to see a change for the better. To fit this in with the main subject "Man vs Wild", I will focus on outdoor recreation and how it promotes an active lifestyle. All kinds of outdoor activities: hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, running, bicycling, the more traditional sports, etc all force you to be active. This physical activity, if actually performed, would give people at least a small portion of the cardio vascular exercise they need and in turn keep them healthier. When people sit on a couch all day they don't exercise their heart and their heart gets weaker. Combine that with a poor diet, which puts added stress on the heart, and that leads to the most prevelant problem in preventative health care, heart disease. This is also the cause of other problems such as diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, etc. Shows like "Man vs Wild" give its viewers a look into how being active can be fun. Its also a way for the non-active viewers to hopefully compare their life and begin to realize the need to be active.

Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is defined as, "having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties". This is an extremely positive and useful trait in life and can really help almost everything one does. The ability to be highly resourceful is highly admired and looked up to. Companies look to hire resourceful people because they can solve conflicts even when others cannot and the solution doesn't seem to be clear. These people are able to think outside the box and can be the voice of reason in an argument that is about to go unsettled. There have been many different television shows and movies based off of characters that excel in this area. It all started with the ever popular television sitcom, "MacGyver", but also movies like "The Edge" starring Anthony Hopkins. In the television show, "Man vs Wild" there are many ways in which Bear Grylls seems to use his resourcefulness to help himself get out of dangerous or even life threatening situations. Resourcefulness in many ways, is almost synonymous with creativeness. Sometimes, being resourceful is based primarily on being well informed and being able to apply one's knowledge. But, in other ways, resourcefulness is based off of being creative and using something or doing something that is not neccesarily meant to be done to resolve a conflict. In many cases, however, both are used together to get things solved.

Wilderness Survival

Why is it important to know how to survive in nature? Or, even just to know how to be comfortable. It seems like in this day of age most people, at least the ones that live in western influenced cultures, are never forced to even spend a night sleeping outside of a building or home. With all the technology that we have available to most of us, knowing how to survive in the wilderness is really unecessary unless an extreme disaster happens and destroys all of our man made luxuries or someone is kidnapped and brought to the middle of nowhere. The truth is that this is the only reason why we would actually need to know how to survive in nature, but there are many reasons for why it is good to know. It is at your advantage to spend time outside enjoying nature. After all, this is the world that was given to us and we should all take advantage of it. Going outside as opposed to staying inside promotes being physically active, using your imagination, and problem solving. It is also a way to stop and think about life. When you go camping you really see how much extra time is needed to perform simple tasks that are effortless and are not even thought of with the technologies that we have. It is a way to stop and appreciate what you have.

As far as surviving in nature, it is a great ability that can help you with many other situations in life. Actually going out and trying it is a great confidence booster as long as you don't fail. And you won't, if you know what your doing. Once you actually try it you realize all that nature has to offer. Nature always supplies us with ways to get by as long as you know what your doing and are well informed. You can always find something to help you out, and many times, it's something that you would have never thought about using in that certain way. For instance, the bark of a birch tree can serve as phenominal timber to get a fire started, even when wet. Another example, and probably an even better one, is that the mucous of many corals that lay near the surface of beaches contain very good UV protection from the sun and can be used to prevent sunburn. These coral are prevalent in very tropical areas near the equator where the sun would cause much threat. It is in these ways and others that nature provides us with what we need to survive.

Bear Grylls

One of the most knowlegable survivalists around is the star of a very popular reality television show, Man vs Wild. He is an ex British special forces officer and professional survivalist who has proved that he can survive any where in the world at any time in any weather with minimal supplies. In fact, as his reputation might suggest, his name is actually Bear, Bear Grylls. Bear lives a very non-traditional lifstyle with his wife and son on an old boat. He lives a very modest lifestyle, especially if you consider the fact that he is now rich and famous thanks to is television show. Bear seems to imply a message that living an active lifestyle and staying in touch with nature is very important to a generation who seems to have forgotten about this. Bear does this by portraying wilderness survival as fun and exciting. He is very resourceful and uses his resourcefulness in his show to survive and stay motivated in highly dangerous and very secluded places in the world. For example, in one of his episodes he had just left a frigid river in winter weather, wet and with all cotton clothes on, which, when wet, steal all the heat from your body. He was at risk of hypothermia, and had very little energy left. So he made a fire, heated up some large stones he had gathered up, positioned them at body length, buried them in sand, and laid on them to keep warm and relax. In this way, Bear is able to teach his viewers some resourceful ideas to help stay alive in life threatening conditions and to give examples allowing the viewer to create other resourceful ideas on his/her own. This also gives the show much of its interest factor because you never know what Bear Grylls will have to figure out next.