Potular Culture

Everyone’s doing it. Generation X, The Millenials, the Baby Boomees, and even the Baby Boomers are smoking it regularly. It’s smoked recreationally, religiously, and medically, being a genetically-alterable natural cure for, well, just about anything. Recently it’s appeared in movies, challenged the Constitution, and ultimately caused an unholy uproar of controversy. Marijuana is a natural herb that has been suppressed by the outdated ideals of Western society, yet is deeply rooted in the American people; the chains of the law are bursting at the seams trying to contain pot, and the recent explosion of its themes in popular culture are stressing the shackles beyond the breaking point.

For almost 100 years, millions of innocent Americans have struggled with the unjust and racist marijuana laws. Since the black Jazz era in the early 1900’s, racism has been part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." In the Prohibition Era a newly employed member of the Bureau of Narcotics named Harry Anslinger took an even more extreme stance against marijuana before cocaine and even opiates; Anslinger’s agenda once again played upon the racist ideals of conservative America: "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men," and he utilized the newspapers to propagate its “dangerous” psychological effects; "marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days -- Hashish goads users to bloodlust." This onslaught of negative connotations in the media and government resulted in The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, in which a battle between yellow journalism and medical science found that factually, none of the stated rumors about pot were found true, but unfortunately through political corruption it was made federally illegal.

So it’s been that way since. We’ve been through three wars and a civil rights movement that was founded on ending racism, yet marijuana remains illegal. How has it been this long? Perhaps it’s the outdated political system, or maybe the lack of true racial equality in society, or it could be the politicians who are too afraid of red America to state their true feelings on the issue. Whatever it is, the attitudes of people and the media indicate that America is ready for change.

Hollywood is a direct indicator of the public’s opinions towards marijuana. Take the recent blockbuster Pineapple Express, a movie that glorifies the smoking and sale of pot, which grossed over 100 million dollars worldwide, and was ranked 6^th on the yearly R rated billboards in 2008. When the trailer was released, smoking and non-smoking youth alike were frothing at the jowls to watch the stoned cinema as well as watch the cinema stoned. With it’s use in trailers for the film, M.I.A’s “Paper Planes” rebounded on the US charts in July 2008, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart at position 55 and eventually peaking at number four, selling over two million copies of the single in the United States, proving that marijuana is no longer viewed a social faux pas and is becoming increasingly marketable.

Comedians have jumped on the pot train as well. Recently famed comedian Katt Williams (who dresses in all green during his defining performance) takes immense pride in his marijuana smoking and is not afraid to talk about it on the stage. With outlandish statements like “some of ya’ll just need to smoke some weed and see if it don’t help the quality of yo’ mutha fuckin’ life”, Katt has caught the attention of the millions of pot smokers across America and has developed into a highly quotable cultural phenomenon. Since the release of the marijuana-induced Pimp Chronicles in 2006, Katt has earned a spot in more than ten major productions, including two features on Comedy Central and an appearance in the larger-than-life video game Grand Theft Auto IV. It is evident in this man’s success that marijuana as a topic of humor has a drastic impact in the entertainment industry as more and more smokers tune in and drop out.

So why have the moods and motivations of the millennial generation, above all others, embraced the cannabis culture to such an extent? We’ve been exposed to the anti-drug commercials our whole lives, we’ve been through the D.A.R.E. programs, we’ve been lectured by our family and teachers, we’ve been propagated in every direction for so long that’s it’s a surprise that most of us still smoke. Although I can’t speak for my entire generation, I personally can sift through the irrationality and ignorance to find the truth and reason. I along with the rest of the millenials have entered college and have become directly exposed to the drug, as well as the factual evidence that negates the governmental lies concerning it.

The truth campaign ads have tried to convince us millenials that pot makes your dog hate you and that aliens will take your girlfriend away because she would rather be with an intergalactic space rapist than a degenerate stoner. The real truth in it is that every time one of the aforementioned ads is aired, we millenials laugh heartily. We find the ads ignorant and outdated, because we’ve been exposed to the medical truths. With more and more reports about the harmlessness and even usefulness of medical marijuana being released every day, it’s hard to still think of pot as the Mexican devil weed, even for the most ignorant of people.

The factual evidence is there and is just now being properly presented. Take comedian Doug Benson’s documentary film, “Super High Me”, which satirizes the recent blockbuster “Supersize Me” by turning it into a stoner flick. Benson follows the same concept of “Supersize Me”, but instead of eating fast food, he doesn’t smoke weed for thirty days, and then smokes like a paper plant for the next thirty. His journey is medically documented, and at the end of the thirty days of non-stop toking Benson is tested as healthy or healthier as he was when he wasn’t smoking except for eight pounds of weight gain; damn the munchies. Recent scientific studies have proven that pot can cure anxiety, stimulate appetite and even inhibit cancerous tumor growth, proving that its place in the medical world is even more legitimate than Advil.

So why is there still so much drama? Eight time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps was recently exposed smoking a bong in a picture from college, costing him millions of dollars in expenses and a loss of an endorsement with cereal brand Kellogs. Call Kellogs around the controversy of the photo and you would find yourself talking to an extremist voice mail, "Thank you for calling the Kellogg Company. If you would like to share your comments regarding our relationship with Michael Phelps, please press one to speak to a representative. If you're calling about the recent peanut butter recall, please press two now. Otherwise, press three or stay on the line. Thank you."

All these elements, including the election of half-black, former pot-smoker Barack Obama, are pointing towards change. We now have black president, a light of hope that racism in politics is no longer existent, but now he must eliminate that what is still controlled by racism in our government; marijuana laws. The ideal “By the People, For the People” will not be fully carried out until the people are treated equally.

The Reality Dilemma

We are all becoming virtual. Our bodies aren’t metamorphosing into hordes of 1’s and 0’s or anything, but our perceptual existence is being sucked out of our terrestrial bodies into the infinite escape of the virtual world. Our existence as perceived by most people in our general network of friends, family and acquaintances (aside from the lucky few who actually interact with you regularly in physical reality) is becoming gradually more virtual as online social networking becomes the method of choice in human relations. This virtual social movement is modifying the human thought and cognitive process, as we are beginning to move more towards typed text to express our thoughts over words, which is producing generation after generation (beginning with children born after 1980) of more socially awkward children, silent and distant because they exist only in their own heads and virtual reality. This trend is making children and adults alike pose to themselves a truly horrifying question: What’s better, reality, or virtual reality? More and more, the answer is an omen of a dim, sterile future.

Marshall McLuhan, a professor of Media Studies in the 1960’s and 70’s famous for the controversial “the medium is the message” concept, predicted what is now an abnormal social phenomenon. McLuhan speculated that technology, as a perceivable entity in human reality, is merely an extension of the human body; the wheel being an extension of the human foot, the fork being an extension of the human hand, etcetera. McLuhan speculated that these technologies constantly modify reality as we know it, and can even falsify or disprove realities that we already know. The internet, for example, has become an extension of the human brain: our thought processes are becoming more databasical and robotic as we use facebook as a social spreadsheet to reference. Our reality has been modified in that our thought processes, entertainment, and even social functions are now being carried out through the information super highway. McLuhan was wise beyond his years.

Let’s analyze the UNCW student of 2009, just as an example. So you’re a student and your primary objective is to be successful in your classes. To be successful, you need to keep up with homework assignments, readings, cancelled classes, whatever. Where is all of this accessible? UNCW Seaport. You need to keep in contact with your parents to let them know if you need money in your bank account for food (drugs and alcohol): g-mail. You need music to walk to class to: iTunes, but more importantly Limewire (who pays for music these days?). You need to keep in touch with your high school friends and try to contact that bangin’ girl you met last night at that crazy party: facebook. You need to do a research paper on Buddhism in Popular Culture: Google, Wikipedia, Ask Jeeves (who uses that bullshit anymore?). Finally, when you’re alone in your dorm, depressed because the bangin’ chick hasn’t sent you a facebook message back and it’s been four whole hours: Bang Brothers dot com (until your roommate comes back, in which case you scream, “I’m naked!” while frantically closing your laptop and pulling your pants up).

So it’s fairly obvious that we’re becoming increasingly more dependent on the Internet for our daily functions. Facebook in particular has taken a strange role in our social reality. While it is the perfect networking tool, it has become an alternative reality of representation, a giant party where everyone is exactly the way they wish they were in real life: well-represented.

Facebook is very gender specific, as women take the representation factor to an obscene level, spending hours crafting their facebook image: tagging the pictures of themselves that they took at the last party with the 300 acquaintances that they saw there, untagging the ones where they’re not fully dolled up or smiling perfectly, captioning the pictures with inside jokes, smiley emoticons, and superficial compliments or statements of appreciation for other girls, and finally, naming the album after a song quote from Lil’ Wayne or Nickelback. But that’s just the pictures. Superficial appreciation is the currency of girls’ facebooks, as “I love you!” or “bffff for life gurl!” seem to be the most common forms of conversation on the public walls of the female facebook. Rarely have these girls ever spoken to each other in physical reality, but in the virtual facebook world they have love for each other, or more accurately, for their virtual representation.

Men explore facebook in a much different way than women do. For men, the facebook design is supposed to be crafted conservatively, to exude the overall message of a lack of effort and caring for their facebook. Instead, where men utilize facebook is in the field of stalking, or “creeping” as the girls call it. This may sound disturbing, but males clicking through hundreds of facebook pictures of girls they find attractive has become a normality. It’s like a softcore version of porn: they find a girl they think is hot, whether they’ve met her or not, whether heard of through a friend, or seen while scanning through the pictures of anothers girl's facebook, and learn everything about her by sorting through her pictures, creating a sort of idealization process. This causes male obsession with girls who have no idea the male even exists, a trend that has become far too common for comfort.

Aside from the creeping factor, facebook is much less of an addiction for males, as they may check it four to five times a day while the average female checks it seven to fifteen times a day (this is based purely on personal observation). Instead of facebook, males are addicted to another form of virtual reality, video games. Marshall McLuhan mentioned that the more interactive and physically involved a media is, the more likely it is to consume the consumer. This is very true of video games, as they have become the new dopamine for males of all ages.

As a person who has played video games their entire life, I can personally say that video games are a dangerous and overwhelming addiction. In a reality where our parents are divorced, school is propagated and boring and it’s too hot or cold outside to be active, the virtual reality of video games is a refuge for many. It’s the ultimate escape, the ultimate form of an alternate reality, where you can really do anything you want; this is why video games are dangerous. An increasing number of males in today’s time are failing and falling out of our institutional system not because of drug or alcohol addiction, not because they are criminals, but because they want to be ranked the highest in online Halo 3 tournaments. It’s the ultimate in falsely gratifying virtual reality, even more than facebook, because with video games, you truly accomplish nothing.

So how is this false existence affecting us socially? It has invaded us socially, that’s what. Girls are now discussing who said what on facebook in the real world, complaining to their boyfriends about not writing on their wall enough, guys know everything about every hot girl at their school, including name, year, and relationship status. Men are not leaving their rooms for days due to the neverending quest to be the best online gamer. We’re all becoming better at conversating through text, and our oral social skills are suffering because of it. Our brains, no longer made to survive in a primal environment, are becoming active and aware only in front of computer screens. It is questionable trend that is compacting and containing us all, as the seperation of reality and virtual reality is being blurred and many people are choosing the latter.

Welcome

Welcome. This is a blog designed to express my feelings on the world, the world including anything physically and virtually existent in our dualistic state of being. This blog is also designed to be an analytical step-back from the mainstream media; most importantly reality TV, facebook, and World of Warcraft. The state of the world that we live in today is like no other; we are faced with an onslaught of physical and mental distractions that seem to guide us away from what is really real. We, the human race as a collective species, have started to lose touch with what we were born to be, what we were designed to be; a being that can rationalize, communicate, and most importantly, form relationships. The consumerism of my generation in particular has motivated the youth to stray from these qualities as the media, in search of money, markets our more animalistic qualities to make abundant profit by teasing us with sexual imagery and enforced egotistical motivations. I feel like my generation really needs to step back and actually be critical of this giant thunderstorm of animalistic bullshit so that we can break the chains of pop culture. This blog's purpose is such; to hopefully expose the reality of the generation, as well as reflect on the motivations of such realities.